I Shall To-Morrow Ship My Great Chests On Board Of A Ship Bound
To Bourdeaux; They Are Directed, And
Recommended to the care of a
merchant of that place, who will forward them by Thoulouse, and
the canal of
Languedoc, to his correspondent at Cette, which is
the sea-port of Montpellier. The charge of their conveyance to
Bourdeaux does not exceed one guinea. They consist of two very
large chests and a trunk, about a thousand pounds weight; and the
expence of transporting them from Bourdeaux to Cette, will not
exceed thirty livres. They are already sealed with lead at the
customhouse, that they may be exempted from further visitation.
This is a precaution which every traveller takes, both by sea and
land: he must likewise provide himself with a passe-avant at the
bureau, otherwise he may be stopped, and rummaged at every town
through which he passes. I have hired a berline and four horses
to Paris, for fourteen loui'dores; two of which the voiturier is
obliged to pay for a permission from the farmers of the poste;
for every thing is farmed in this country; and if you hire a
carriage, as I have done, you must pay twelve livres, or half-a-guinea,
for every person that travels in it. The common coach
between Calais and Paris, is such a vehicle as no man would use,
who has any regard to his own case and convenience and it travels
at the pace of an English waggon.
In ten days I shall set out on my journey; and I shall leave
Boulogne with regret. I have been happy in the acquaintance of
Mrs. B - , and a few British families in the place; and it was my
good fortune to meet here with two honest gentlemen, whom I had
formerly known in Paris, as well as with some of my countrymen,
officers in the service of France. My next will be from Paris.
Remember me to our friends at A - 's. I am a little heavy-hearted
at the prospect of removing to such a distance from you. It is a
moot point whether I shall ever return. My health is very
precarious. Adieu.
LETTER VI
PARIS, October 12, 1763.
DEAR SIR, - Of our journey from Boulogne I have little to say. The
weather was favourable, and the roads were in tolerable order. We
found good accommodation at Montreuil and Amiens; but in every
other place where we stopped, we met with abundance of dirt, and
the most flagrant imposition. I shall not pretend to describe the
cities of Abbeville and Amiens, which we saw only en passant; nor
take up your time with an account of the stables and palace of
Chantilly, belonging to the prince of Conde, which we visited the
last day of our journey; nor shall I detain you with a detail of
the Trefors de St. Denis, which, together with the tombs in the
abbey church, afforded us some amusement while our dinner was
getting ready. All these particulars are mentioned in twenty
different books of tours, travels, and directions, which you have
often perused. I shall only observe, that the abbey church is the
lightest piece of Gothic architecture I have seen, and the air
within seems perfectly free from that damp and moisture, so
perceivable in all our old cathedrals. This must be owing to the
nature of its situation. There are some fine marble statues that
adorn the tombs of certain individuals here interred; but they
are mostly in the French taste, which is quite contrary to the
simplicity of the antients. Their attitudes are affected,
unnatural, and desultory; and their draperies fantastic; or, as
one of our English artists expressed himself, they are all of a
flutter. As for the treasures, which are shewn on certain days to
the populace gratis, they are contained in a number of presses,
or armoires, and, if the stones are genuine, they must be
inestimable: but this I cannot believe. Indeed I have been told,
that what they shew as diamonds are no more than composition:
nevertheless, exclusive of these, there are some rough stones of
great value, and many curiosities worth seeing. The monk that
shewed them was the very image of our friend Hamilton, both in
his looks and manner.
I have one thing very extraordinary to observe of the French
auberges, which seems to be a remarkable deviation from the
general character of the nation. The landlords, hostesses, and
servants of the inns upon the road, have not the least dash of
complaisance in their behaviour to strangers. Instead of coming
to the door, to receive you as in England, they take no manner of
notice of you; but leave you to find or enquire your way into the
kitchen, and there you must ask several times for a chamber,
before they seem willing to conduct you up stairs. In general,
you are served with the appearance of the most mortifying
indifference, at the very time they are laying schemes for
fleecing you of your money. It is a very odd contrast between
France and England; in the former all the people are complaisant
but the publicans; in the latter there is hardly any complaisance
but among the publicans. When I said all the people in France, I
ought also to except those vermin who examine the baggage of
travellers in different parts of the kingdom. Although our
portmanteaus were sealed with lead, and we were provided
with a passe-avant from the douane, our coach was searched
at the gate of Paris by which we entered; and the women were
obliged to get out, and stand in the open street, till this
operation was performed.
I had desired a friend to provide lodgings for me at Paris, in
the Fauxbourg St. Germain; and accordingly we found ourselves
accommodated at the Hotel de Montmorency, with a first floor,
which costs me ten livres a day. I should have put up with it had
it been less polite; but as I have only a few days to stay in
this place, and some visits to receive, I am not sorry that my
friend has exceeded his commission.
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