FRANCE. 



599 



and crooked. The western part is modern and well built. The Boulevards constitute a w.de 

 mall, with four rows of trees passing in an irregular course around the central part of the city ; 

 they occupy the site of the ancient walls of Paris, rendered useless by the growing up of the 

 city around them and are two miles in extent. There is nothing in Paris more striking than 

 the Boulevards. The exterior Boulevard is a broad street on the outer side of the wall 

 wnich encircles the city. But a small porlion of this is built upon. The Boulevard most fre- 

 quently mentioned, is in the midst of the city. Difl'erent parts of this are called by different 

 names, as the Boulevard des Italiens, fiom its vicinity to the Italian opera, Boulevard du 

 Temple, &c. It is im.possible to convey an adequate idea of the liveliness of the Italian Bou- 

 levard at night. Multitudes of gayly dressed people are sauntering through it, while parties of 

 both sexes are silling beneath the trees, sip|)ing coffee, lemonade, and liqueurs. The air is 

 filled with music, and the magnificent buildings on either side are lighted as if for an illumina- 

 tion. In any other city, a scene like this would have something of bustle in it^ut the Pa- 

 risians live in public, and while they are always cheerful, they have seldom a busy air. They 

 pass to and fro, as if contented and happy, and manifest little excitement, except by their ani 

 'mated conversation. To an American, this place wears the aspect of enchantment. 



The Champ de Mars is an oblong park bordered by rows of trees, and extending from the 

 Mihtary School to the river ; it is the spot commonly appropriated to the reviews of troops 



and great public festivities. The 

 gardens of the Tuileries, to the west 

 of the palace, are elegantly laid out 

 with graveled walks, terraces, plots 

 of flowers, shrubs, groves of trees, 

 and basins of water, interspersed 

 with beautiful statues in bronze and 

 marble. These are the favorite 

 walks of the Parisians, and on Sun- 

 days, they resort hither in crowds. 

 The Luxumbourg gardens, in the 

 southerly part of the city, also af- 

 ford beautiful walks. The Champs 

 Elysees form a spacious common 

 in the western part, and the entrance 

 to the city in this quarter is one of 

 the finest avenues in the world. 

 Walks are laid out in various parts 

 of these fields, and superb national 

 fetes are given here, on which oc- 

 casions the trees are brilliantly il- 

 luminated. The subjoined cut 

 represents the appearance of this 

 spot in winter. The finest square 

 in Paris is the Place Vendome, in 

 the centre of which stands a col- 

 umn erected by Napoleon, in 

 commemoration of the Austerlitz 

 campaign ; it is covered with bas- 

 reliefs in bronze, made from the 

 cannon taken in the campaign. 

 The banks of the Seine are beau- 

 tified with noble quays, and the 

 stream is crossed by 16 bridges, 

 12 of which are of stone, and 2 of 

 On the Pont Neuf stands 



Champ de Mars. 



Champs Elysees. 



an equestrian statue of Henry the Fourth, in bronze, one of tlie finest ornaments of the city. 

 A similar one of Louis the Fourteenth occupies a small area, called the Place des Victoires. 



ries. The Garden of llie Tnilerios owes much r,f its rn:i5- dome; the opposite view of the Clin mher of Deputies, 

 nificence to tlie noble vista which he opened by the Rue v/itli it:; noble portico : nnd the unfiiiished. hut ,crra))d tri 

 flastilione to the triumphal column in ll.i^ I'lare \v:\- uinphiil nrfh nf Neuill,-, 



