The
Foreigner Has Only To Be Sufficiently Liberal And He Is Assured
Of A Flattering Reception Wheresoever His Straying Footsteps
May
carry him, whether in Paris or in the provinces; but wheresoever
those feet of his do carry him he
Will find a people distinguished
by a frugality and inspired by an economy of the frugalest and
most economical character conceivable. In the streets of the
metropolis he is expected, when going anywhere, to hail the
fast-flitting taxicab [Footnote: Stops on signal only - and sometimes
not then.], though the residents patronize the public bus. Indeed,
the distinction is made clear to his understanding from the moment
he passes the first outlying fortress at the national frontier
[Footnote: Flag station.] - since, for the looks of things if for
no better reason, he must travel first-class on the de-luxe trains
[Footnote: Diner taken off when you are about half through eating.],
whereas the Frenchmen pack themselves tightly but frugally into the
second-class and the third-class compartments.
Before I went to France I knew Saint Denis was the patron saint
of the French; but I did not know why until I heard the legend
connected with his death. When the executioner on the hill at
Montmartre cut off his head the good saint picked it up and strolled
across the fields with it tucked under his arm - so runs the tale.
His head, in that shape, was no longer of any particular value
to him, but your true Parisian is of a saving disposition.
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