We put up for the night at the Hôtel de Paris, where the prices are exorbitant. We had dinner at a small hotel which boasted of a table d’hôte at 2 francs 25 centimes per head. Sixty boarders sat down at table, inveterate roulette-players all of them. The game was the sole conversation during the meal. After dinner we went to the Casino to see the fireworks and listen to the splendid orchestra playing in the concert-hall. I tried my luck at the gambling-tables and lost about ten francs, but Sergy gained heaps of money. The run of bad luck had completely emptied the purse of an old lady sitting on my right—she looked so wretched, the poor old thing!
CHAPTER XCI
NICE
November 17th.—We started with the first train for Nice, where we stopped at the Hôtel Julien, hidden among lemon trees. Directly after lunch I went out for a walk. Whilst I stood gazing into a jewellery-shop, an old gentleman came up, and touching my arm, began to whisper compliments into my ear. I cast an indignant glance at the old satyr and hastened back to the hotel, walking very fast, and it was by an effort that my pursuer kept me in sight, for my legs were long and his were not.
Before dinner we sat on the boulevard at a small table. We ordered coffee, and listened to exciting Hungarian czardas that Tziganes were playing at a neighbouring restaurant on our left. On our right a troup of Neapolitan singers sang national songs in chorus.
The whole night I shivered with cold in my bed under two quilts scented with lavender. Notwithstanding the chilly atmosphere, persecuting mosquitoes strove to cover us with their stings.
November 18th.—We came back to Marseilles to-day. I was half out of the window of our car, watching for Sergy who was waiting for us on the platform, his face beaming with pleasure. We had some dinner at the station and took the train for Paris.
CHAPTER XCII
PARIS
November 19th.—We arrived at Paris in the afternoon and stopped as usual at the Hôtel de Calais. It was very cold in our apartment and we had a fire all day.