I observed as I passed through the gardens, that the vegetables were distinguished from one another by Latin inscriptions, as calamus aromaticus, sambucus, rhabarbarum, &c.
CHAP. XIII.
A Description of Paris.—Of the River Seine.—Of the Climate.—Dress,—Anecdote of a Frenchman.—French Courtship, and the Fondness of the Ladies, &c.
Paris, the capital of France, is situated in lat. 48 deg. 50 min. north; and long. 2 deg. 10 min. east of the royal observatory at Greenwich; and is called one of the grandest and most beautiful cities in Europe. It is built in a circular form, and was about eighteen miles in circumference, 'till of late it has been made much larger by the augmentation of their buildings, and the erection of a new wall, which encompasses the old one at a great distance. The city is walled in to prevent smuggling, sentries being placed at the gates, where duties are paid, &c. The houses in this city are from six to eight stories high in general, built chiefly of hewn stone, which are of a lightish colour. These stories are much higher than ours in London. The buildings are very magnificent; and the city is amazingly populous.
It contains upwards of 22,000 houses,—979 streets,—52 parishes,—130 convents,—28 hospitals,—and about 800,000 people.
The streets of this city are narrow; and being paved to the sides of the houses, with stones much like those in the middle of the streets in London, makes the walking inconvenient, and exposes travellers to the danger of being hurt by the carriages.
It is a pity that the streets of Paris, and many other cities, had not been laid out at right angles, at proper distances, and at convenient breadths, when the places were first built.
Paris is divided almost into equal parts by the river Seine, which did not appear to me to be so large as the river Thames. There is a number of bridges over the Seine, and several of them have buildings on either side, which form a complete street. This river rises in Burgundy, and running through Paris, empties itself into the English Channel, between Havre-de-Grace and Honfleur.
The tides are not strong enough to bring heavy vessels up to Paris. The people are obliged to make use of long barges, and to tow them up with horses. There are some water-mills erected on this river, for the purpose of grinding grain, &c.