NOTES:
[1] école du gouvernement, state school; the French government supports several boarding-schools for the proper training of young men for the service of the state; prominent among these schools are l'École polytechnique, for engineering, l'École normale, for teaching, and l'École de Saint-Cyr, corresponding to West Point. Admission to these schools is by competitive examination, and upon graduation the student receives a bachelor's degree and is given the choice of a position under the government or of resigning.
[2] Écrire; in advertisements the infinitive is used in French where English requires the imperative mood.
[3] Que voulez-vous? how can I help it? or, what would you have?
[4] gouvernement de 1846; by the Revolution of July, in 1830, the Bourbon monarchy, which had been restored after the downfall of Napoleon, in 1814, was in its turn overthrown. A constitutional monarchy was then established with Louis Philippe of Orleans, cousin of Louis XVIII., and of Charles X., as king. This Orleanist monarchy, always detested by the legitimist or Bourbon party, which included almost all of the old, aristocratic families, came to an end in 1848.
[5] faubourg Saint-Germain; the faubourg Saint-Germain is that part of Paris lying on the left bank of the Seine directly opposite the Tuileries gardens, and extending from the rue de Seine to the Chambre des Députés. During the nineteenth century it was the chief residence section of the old French aristocracy, though at present many of the younger members are migrating to the more modern quarter about the Arc de Triomphe and the Parc Monceau. The term "faubourg Saint-Germain" is frequently used for aristocratic French society itself, and has even been extended to include this society wherever found. The word faubourg originally signified "village," or "suburb," then, as the outlying districts were absorbed by the growing city, it came to mean simply a section or quarter of the city itself.
[6] bienheureux ruisseau de la rue du Bac; the rue du Bac traverses the heart of the faubourg Saint-Germain at right angles to the Seine. The "blessed brook" referred to is the gutter which, until modern times, ran down the middle of the street.
[7] Bon saint Louis; in France it is very common for a shop to be named for some saint, or personage, or for something connected with the trade or location of the house, to which it is nominally dedicated; thus we find signs reading à Jeanne d'Arc, au Bon Marché, au Louvre, au Bébé incassable, à la Madeleine.
[8] qu'on, translate as if sans qu'on.
[9] peu s'en fallait que Madame Lopinot ne se signât, Madame L. almost crossed herself.