Dagonet Abroad

DAGONET ABROAD
BY GEORGE R. SIMS AUTHOR OF ‘MARY JANE’S MEMOIRS,’ ‘THE RING O’ BELLS,’ ETC.
LONDON CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY 1895 TO COUNT ALBERT EDWARD VON ARMFELT THE CONSTANT COMPANION OF DAGONET ABROAD THESE PAGES ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY HIS FRIEND GEO. R. SIMS
If ‘Dagonet Abroad’ is found to be mainly a record of personal adventure, my excuse must be that I have always endeavoured to attend to my own business and leave other people’s alone. I have described the cities and peoples of Europe entirely from my own personal observation. In no instance have I described a country without visiting it. I trust that this admission will not in any way injure my reputation as a traveller, or as a journalist.
GEO. R. SIMS.
London, September 1, 1895 .

I am in Bordeaux in February, and in a hotel; which hotel I am not quite sure. Over the top of the front door it is called ‘Hôtel de la Paix,’ on the left side of the door it is called ‘Hôtel des Princes,’ on the right side of the door it is called ‘Hôtel de Paris.’ It is three single hotels rolled into one; but its variety of nomenclature is slightly confusing. It is nice to be in so many hotels all at once, but I hope they won’t all send me in a separate bill. The key to the enigma is this: Many hotels in Bordeaux have failed, or given up business. The landlord of my hotel has bought the goodwill of each, and stuck its title up over his own front door.
It is early in the morning and bitterly cold when I arrive, but as the day advances it gets aired. The sun comes out in the heavens and slowly gathers strength. By noon the streets are bathed in a warm glow. Bordeaux has changed from the frozen North to the sunny South. It is no longer Siberian; it is Indian. The pavements that were frozen with the cold in the early morning are now baking with the heat. I fling off my ulster, and I light a cigarette and stroll forth, airily clad, to bask and revel in the golden sunlight.