The Washington times., 1901-09-08


cans and Englishmen abound. and pro
vision is made for them in the way o
walters who speak or at least under
stand English. These restaurants car
hardly be called French, and to get th'
real flavor of q Paris restaurant as /
would be if Paris were not managed
now almost entirely in the interest c,
the visiting foreigner, 1T is necessary
to go elsewhere. In many odd corner:
of the city you can find unspoi.et
! French restaurants, but the one mos
accessible lies in the Boulevard de:
Itaiiens. near the Boulevard Montmar.
ire, being on the right hand side as yoJ
walk from the Opera. After driving int
a covered gateway you see a sigr
cafe Francois" which directs you W
n rounding pair of sanded stairs-pas'
piles of red radishes and lettuce and
( carrots on ice-into big room where 3
hundred or more are busy eating-mer
with wives and children occupying the
majority of the tables
A meal cooked simply but with the
! finest art is served to you-wine in
cluded. When you are ready for your
soup a waiter rolls forward large tu-
reen on wheels under which there is a
fire, and dips out for you boiling hot
! ladle of the steaming contents. When
your roast is served, it comes to you
| upon rolling table, with fire under it,
and is sizzling hot.
! If you speak no French you are lost
/ in the Cafe Francais," for you will
find there no one who cares to talk En-
/ glish. The people who frequent the
| place are French, of the conservative
! type, which one does not see at the
other places.
But Of course if you go to Paris. you
should get one meal of the best kind
that Paris can afford. and to fulfill that
desire you turn your feet down the
Avenue de rOpera and find on the right
hand side just a short distance from
the Opera itself, rather insignificant
building with Restaurant de Paris on
its sign. The building is crowded with
tables, and it needs to be, for more
freQuented place there is not in Paris.
Here is the height of cooking. Here are
served wines that kings used to pos
sess. Here the greatest gourmets come
to praise or to grumbIe. Here are con-
cocted dishes of piquant splendor to
make every nerve in the palate stand
UP expectantly from the very smell of
them. Sauces and gravies that have
taken hours-and some, days-to pre-
pare, see the light on the tables in the
small insignificant building. Beaud-
fully upholstered it is. in truth, in pale
green brocade covering the walls, gold
and white pillars and wood trimmings,
plush curtains and chair cushions.
After the opera is out the upper world
comes to take its supper, and a peep
into the rooms crowded with beieweled
women in handsome gowns and dia-
monds glistening in the bright light re-
veals sight scarcely anywhere to be
equaled.
The traveller in Paris has most fire.
quently the mood to do something Bo-
hemian. Latin quarter" is the phrase
tnat makes him alert with expectancy.
Yes. and you can dine well. and cheap
ly, too, in the Latin quarter, and while
you are dining you can see something
of the student of Paris and the life
that surrounds him.
Take a bus that drops you at the
Place st. Michel. just across the bridge,
and arrive about half after seven at the
bottom of the favored Boulevard St
Michel. To enjoy your Bohemian din
ner to the utmost it is requisite that
you shall previously have gone TO one
of the students dances at the Butler, a
dancing and drinking place where at
night the students and their friends
congregate. 1t is likely that you will
there have become acquainted with
some of the people who frequent the
Boulevard st. Michel, and your course
up the street will be made pleasant by
smiles which you will receive from
girls and men seated at their dinners
in the restaurants you pass. Keep on
your way and turn TO the left when you
come to the Rue des Ecoles. A few
steps will take you to the door of La
Taverne Lorraine, a strange little
building of old-fashioned architecture,
painted pale green. If you arrive after
S O'Clock the sound of music invites you
within, and you find gathered at the
of young men and women. There is
an extremely free and easy air about it !
all. and you need not be shocked if the |
bearded young gentleman with soft |
bow tie before you leans over to kiss !
the demure maiden who is seated by |
him. 1t is the usual thing, and is but |
typical of the atmosphere that pervades |
the whole place. AS a rule the girls |
are pretty and sweet looking and seem |
rather to be sort of affectionate COM |
panions to the young man with whom /
they chance to be dining.
Concerning the food-it is good, not /
expensive, and well served in a Bo- |
hemian sort Of way. When the thea !
tres of the quarter are open there are |
to be found many beauties of the ballet /
dining with their swains.
The Boulevard ST. Michel is the CEN
tire of the French quarter Latin. Up on !
the Montmartre, near the Moulin /
Rouge. the English-speaking students
have colony Of their own. and if you
wish more Bohemia travel across the /
city after your dinner at La TaVerne |
Lorraine and take your after-dinner
cognac in Heaven" Hell" and Moth
ngness." These three cafes are all /
conducted on q similar plan-each one
is built up on a fancy. "Nothingness'
Introduces the man who enters il to all
sorts of strange sensations of death and
The attendants are men in
black shrouds with NEST sepulchral
voices who chant dismal dirges all the
time. The tables are collins ard the
invitation to drink is Choose your
poison" As a final act the guest Is al
Owed to see a man shrivel away to
then become a skeleton, and
inaily vanish entirely. In Heaven"
everything is bright and celestial and
he visitor is waited upon by angels,