The road from Bruges to Ghent
or Gand is perfectly straight, lined with trees and paved like a street.
The country is quite flat, and though there is nothing to bound the
horizon, the trees on each side of the road intercept the view.
We arrived at Ghent about six in the afternoon of the 4th and had some
difficulty in finding room, as the different hotels were filled with
officers of the allied army; but at length, after many ineffectual
applications at several, we obtained admission at the Hotel de Flandre,
where we took possession of a double-bedded room, the only one unoccupied.
Gand seems to be a very neat, clean and handsome city, with an air of
magnificence about it. The Grande Place is very striking, and the
promenades are aligned with trees. We inspected the exterior of several
public buildings and visited the interior of several churches. In the
cathedral we had the honour of seeing at High Mass his most Christian
Majesty, Monsieur and the Comte de Blacas, Vicomte de Chateaubriand and
others, composing the Court of notre Pere de Gand, as Louis XVIII is
humorously termed by the French, from his having fixed his head-quarters
here. A great many French officers who have followed his fortunes are also
here, but they seem principally to belong to the Gardes du Corps.
