These Carriages Are Let By The Same Persons Who Farm The
Diligence; And For This They Have An Exclusive Privilege, Which
Makes Them Very Saucy And Insolent.
When I mentioned my servant,
they gave me to understand, that I must pay two loui'dores more
for his seat upon the coach box.
As I could not relish these
terms, nor brook the thoughts of being so long upon the road, I
had recourse to the third method, which is going post.
In England you know I should have had nothing to do, but to hire
a couple of post-chaises from stage to stage, with two horses in
each; but here the case is quite otherwise. The post is farmed
from the king, who lays travellers under contribution for his own
benefit, and has published a set of oppressive ordonnances, which
no stranger nor native dares transgress. The postmaster finds
nothing but horses and guides: the carriage you yourself must
provide. If there are four persons within the carriage, you are
obliged to have six horses, and two postillions; and if your
servant sits on the outside, either before or behind, you must
pay for a seventh. You pay double for the first stage from Paris,
and twice double for passing through Fontainbleau when the court
is there, as well as at coming to Lyons, and at leaving this
city. These are called royal posts, and are undoubtedly a
scandalous imposition.
There are two post roads from Paris to Lyons, one of sixty-five
posts, by the way of Moulins; the other of fifty-nine, by the way
of Dijon in Burgundy. This last I chose, partly to save sixty
livres, and partly to see the wine harvest of Burgundy, which, I
was told, was a season of mirth and jollity among all ranks of
people. I hired a very good coach for ten loui'dores to Lyons,
and set out from Paris on the thirteenth instant, with six
horses, two postillions, and my own servant on horseback. We made
no stop at Fontainbleau, though the court was there; but lay at
Moret, which is one stage further, a very paltry little town
where, however, we found good accommodation.
I shall not pretend to describe the castle or palace of
Fontainbleau, of which I had only a glimpse in passing; but the
forest, in the middle of which it stands, is a noble chace of
great extent, beautifully wild and romantic, well stored with
game of all sorts, and abounding with excellent timber. It put me
in mind of the New Forest in Hampshire; but the hills, rocks, and
mountains, with which it is diversified, render it more
agreeable.
The people of this country dine at noon, and travellers always
find an ordinary prepared at every auberge, or public-house, on
the road. Here they sit down promiscuously, and dine at so much a
head. The usual price is thirty sols for dinner, and forty for
supper, including lodging; for this moderate expence they have
two courses and a dessert. If you eat in your own apartment, you
pay, instead of forty sols, three, and in some places, four
livres ahead. I and my family could not well dispense with our
tea and toast in the morning, and had no stomach to eat at noon.
For my own part, I hate French cookery, and abominate garlick,
with which all their ragouts, in this part of the country, are
highly seasoned: we therefore formed a different plan of living
upon the road. Before we left Paris, we laid in a stock of tea,
chocolate, cured neats' tongues, and saucissons, or Bologna
sausages, both of which we found in great perfection in that
capital, where, indeed, there are excellent provisions of all
sorts. About ten in the morning we stopped to breakfast at some
auberge, where we always found bread, butter, and milk. In the
mean time, we ordered a poulard or two to be roasted, and these,
wrapped in a napkin, were put into the boot of the coach,
together with bread, wine, and water. About two or three in the
afternoon, while the horses were changing, we laid a cloth upon
our knees, and producing our store, with a few earthen plates,
discussed our short meal without further ceremony. This was
followed by a dessert of grapes and other fruit, which we had
also provided. I must own I found these transient refreshments
much more agreeable than any regular meal I ate upon the road.
The wine commonly used in Burgundy is so weak and thin, that you
would not drink it in England. The very best which they sell at
Dijon, the capital of the province, for three livres a bottle, is
in strength, and even in flavour, greatly inferior to what I have
drank in London. I believe all the first growth is either
consumed in the houses of the noblesse, or sent abroad to foreign
markets. I have drank excellent Burgundy at Brussels for a florin
a bottle; that is, little more than twenty pence sterling.
The country from the forest of Fontainbleau to the Lyonnois,
through which we passed, is rather agreeable than fertile, being
part of Champagne and the dutchy of Burgundy, watered by three
pleasant pastoral rivers, the Seine, the Yonne, and the Saone.
The flat country is laid out chiefly for corn; but produces more
rye than wheat. Almost all the ground seems to be ploughed up, so
that there is little or nothing lying fallow. There are very few
inclosures, scarce any meadow ground, and, so far as I could
observe, a great scarcity of cattle. We sometimes found it very
difficult to procure half a pint of milk for our tea. In
Burgundy I saw a peasant ploughing the ground with a jack-ass, a
lean cow, and a he-goat, yoked together. It is generally
observed, that a great number of black cattle are bred and fed on
the mountains of Burgundy, which are the highest lands in France;
but I saw very few.
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