708 FINAL JOURNEYS AND WORK. [1880, 



Roman foundations, extended and modernized by the 

 father of St. Louis, and the finishing touches by St. 

 Louis himself. 



Here endeth the epistle. The rest is simply getting 

 back to Paris. I had counted on returning by way 

 of Nimes, Clermont-Ferrand, and a little detour to see 

 the cathedral of Bourges. But the winds from the 

 mountains made Narbonne and Carcassonne cold, the 

 few trains from Nimes were unseasonable, my wife 

 declared she had so many cathedrals mixed up in her 

 head that she could not endure another, and so, leav- 

 ing Narbonne in early morning, we reached Cette ten 

 minutes after the express train for Paris had left, 

 and we came on in omnibus train in unbroken jour- 

 ney, through Montpellier, Nimes, and Avignon 

 (which we had visited, in former years), and via 

 Lyons to Paris. And here we are. 



Two months of play, delicious play, are up : we 

 landed two months ago to-morrow. We have had our 

 share, and I have now an appetite for work. I can be 

 usefully busy in Paris for a fortnight, hardly longer. 

 Then what ? Much depends on what you can see 

 your way to. The traditional " three courses " seem 

 to be before us, each with its advantages and disad- 

 vantages ; and we are so balanced that we shall be 

 likely to incline as you push the scale. . . . 



Course 3. Bear the English winter, if we can't 

 avoid it, on the principle that " what can't be cured 

 must be endured." And with your good fires and 

 snugness it is not so bad. Secure our lodgings, and 

 we will come over to you about the first of the coming 

 month ; and I get a solid piece of work done. 



If I can utilize the long evenings nothing can be 



