The gardens and walks of Paris.
Paris, may the 2d, 1802 (12 floréal).
MY DEAR SIR,
Whenever you come to Paris, come with the smiling month of may. On my arrival here, at the end of october, I was disgusted with the dirt of the streets, the mire of the Thuilleries, the ruts of the Boulevards, and the general gloom of the town. Accustomed to take a great deal of exercise, I could not persuade myself to be shut up, the whole of every day, either in a hot room, or a close carriage. I therefore continued to walk about: but, while my feet were cut to pieces at every step, I was frequently in danger of being run over by a rapid cabriolet, or squeezed to atoms under the ponderous wheels of an overloaded cart. Nor was I consoled for this hazardous undertaking by meeting with any conversable persons of my acquaintance.
The parisians, who have carriages, never think of walking during the severe days of winter; and those who do not possess that convenience, spend the greater part of every day at home. To save the expense of a fiacre[75], they will, indeed, sometimes use their feet in going to a restaurateur’s, a spectacle, or a ball, or in paying some of those innumerable visits, in which an inhabitant of this town passes half his life; but, as to taking exercise for health, it never enters into the calculations of a frenchman. Nothing, therefore, could be so dismal as the streets in the months of november, december, and january; and a severer punishment could not be devised for the daily murder of time committed by our Bond street loungers, than to condemn them to a three months pilgrimage, at that period of the year, round the streets of Paris.
The spring has, with fine weather, changed the face of every thing here; and a person fond of exercise may now have all the advantages which he can possibly desire.
The Thuilleries and Champs Elisées, which in winter are almost impassable, now offer excellent gravel walks, and delightful shade under the long avenues of lofty trees. Here crowds are collected at almost every hour of the day; and, besides long lines of pedestrians, rows of chairs are filled with ladies eating ice, and politicians reading newspapers.
The Bois de Boulogne affords an admirable ride for persons in carriages or on horseback, and a lengthened walk for those on foot.
Besides these, there are several delightful gardens open to the public in different parts of the town. The Boulevards, which surround Paris on every side, are now seen to great advantage.
The walks are in high order, the trees are in rich foliage; and the number of mountebanks, printsellers, quack doctors, and shows of all kinds, collected here, and the crowds of persons and carriages which are constantly passing, make them present a very curious and lively scene.