260 LETTERS FROM A CONTINENTAL TOURIST. 



of the Parthenon, with only some slight variations in the detail, can- 

 not fail to excite admiration. The pillars which support, or appear 

 to support the roof, are of ths Corinthian order light, elegant, and 

 rich. A magnificent flight of steps leads to it in front, and the yet 

 unsullied brightness of the stone adds not a little to its splendour. 



In the Hotel de Tours I am lodged, on the place de la Bourse, 

 which is a magnificent building of much the same character as the 

 Madeleine, and indeed, as far! as external appearance goes, would 

 answer the purpose of a church quite as well as the other. The tri- 

 umphal arch at the end of the Champ Elysees is another object de- 

 serving of attention, which has been completed since my last visit, 

 though I am not by any means so well satisfied with it as with the 

 Madeleine and the Bourse. The arch itself is doubtless magnificent, 

 but the ornaments are too numerous. It is very much overloaded 

 with bas reliefs of gigantic dimensions, and an immense quantity of 

 gingerbread-work, which pleases the French, perhaps, better than a 

 more chaste and subdued style. After all, I derived at least as 

 much pleasure from the sight of an unfinished building of less pre- 

 tension, on the Quai d'Orsai, as from any of the greater lions. It was 

 originally begun by Napoleon as an hotel for the Bureau des Affairs 

 Etrangeres, was neglected during the restoration, but since the ac- 

 cession of Louis Philippe has been finished, and will, I believe, be 

 used as an hotel for the affaires inttrieures. It is a large building, 

 formed of a centre and two small wings, not pretending to much 

 beauty of decoration, but exceedingly elegant and graceful. Facing 

 the river, and opposite the Thuillerie gardens too, it is in a particu- 

 larly advantageous situation, as you see it at a sufficient distance to 

 embrace the whole at one glance. The statue of Napoleon on the 

 column at the place Vendome is the only other conspicuous object of 

 public interest that I have yet seen. The figure is dressed in the 

 three-cornered hat and redingote, with which all the world is so fa- 

 miliar as the dress of the great warrior, and is of such proportions 

 as to be seen distinctly, notwithstanding its considerable height. 



Much has been done in late years to embellish Paris in the im- 

 provement of its streets ; many have been made of considerable di- 

 mensions where before there were only narrow alleys; arcades have 

 been built or enlarged ; pavements added to the broad streets, and 

 even to some of the narrow ones ; above all, the sewerage is im- 

 proved. More might still be done. 



The Boulevards are not improved, as you may suppose, by the loss 

 of the magnificent trees, whose places are now supplied by things 

 like mopsticks with a few leaves at the top of them ; but the shops have 

 been much embellished, and, magnificent as the cafes were, they now 

 far exceed their former splendour. The Cafe des Panoramas, at 

 the corner of the new Rue Vivienne (which is now continued to the 

 Boulevards) is adorned with a beauty and costliness that must be seen, 

 not described. For the rest I find Paris the same as heretofore. Nor 

 are the manners of the Parisians apparently changed, though it is 

 said suicides and duels have increased to an extent perfectly hor- 



rifying. 

 In 



my last letter I made some mention of the French soldiery. 



