"But there is even more fun to be had in the gardens of the Tuileries; there is where I would like to take you, Germaine," said Mr. Thomson.
"There among bright flower-beds and shady alleys the little children play games around the feet of the marble statues; roll their hoops; run after their toy balloons; and trundle their dolls about, or sail toy boats with red, blue, or white sails, on the little pond, while their bonnes, or nurses we would call them, in their long cloaks and big caps with streamers of bright ribbons, sit gossiping on the benches.
"We would walk along until we found Guignol, which English and American girls and boys call 'Punch and Judy;' but they would enjoy it just as much as do the French children, for even though Mr. Punch and Mrs. Judy speak French, the show is just the same.
"And then we would go on a little farther and join the crowd standing around a man with birds flying all about him. He is the 'bird charmer,' who seems to draw the birds to him by some magic. He whistles, and they perch on his head, shoulders, and hands, eat out of his mouth, and perform tricks on the stick he holds in his hand. This greatly amuses the children, and they are always ready to give the man a few sous, so it is a profit to him as well as an amusement."
Then there is the great Cathedral of Notre Dame, which is probably the best known church in all the world. It stands on the river bank, for Paris is built on either side of that same Seine that Germaine sees through the trees in the distance as she sits under the apple-trees on her father's farm.
Mr. Thomson tells her also of the new Palace of Art, where, among many thousands of others, he hopes to exhibit this picture he is now painting; and of the beautiful Alexander III. bridge near it, with its lofty white columns crowned by the great golden-winged horses, named after a Czar of Russia, for the French and Russian people are very friendly.
"Ah, yes! Paris is a great city," Mr. Thomson would always say when he had finished.
"Papa said when I was older perhaps he would take Marie and me there," said Germaine. "But now I must go," she added, jumping up; "mamma will be waiting for me to help her with the chickens," and saying good-bye to her friend, Germaine ran toward the farmyard gate.