![](http://www.alamy.com/thumbs/6/65983BB4-47AC-4BEF-9F3A-981EF038F1DE/2AJ9N4G.jpg)
Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 104 December 1901 to May 1902 . The peoplehave an engaging way of replying Straight ahead, and, if you followtheir advice, it may lead you in an oppo-site direction to that in which you wantto go. Or, they will obligingly describethe road and the country in such detailthat you will know less about it when theyhave finished than you did before. InAmerica, few words are wasted in direct-ing the traveller, but these words areusually accurate, and show higher aver-age intelligence. In speaking of the hotels or inns ofFrance, it may be of interest to mentionsome
Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 104 December 1901 to May 1902 . The peoplehave an engaging way of replying Straight ahead, and, if you followtheir advice, it may lead you in an oppo-site direction to that in which you wantto go. Or, they will obligingly describethe road and the country in such detailthat you will know less about it when theyhave finished than you did before. InAmerica, few words are wasted in direct-ing the traveller, but these words areusually accurate, and show higher aver-age intelligence. In speaking of the hotels or inns ofFrance, it may be of interest to mentionsome of their names. Going about thecountry, one may come across the Hoteldu Cheval Blanc, Hotel du ChevalNoir, de lEcu, du Grand Cerf, SoleildOr. Some names are still more pic-turesque, as, for instance, Hotel de laGuimbarde, Hotel du Coq Hardi,Hotel du Coq Efflanque, and thesetitles are usually illustrated on the signabove the door, and bear the indispen-sable On loge a, pied et a, these signs have been paintedby some artist of talent, whose empty. Everywhere the Shepherd with his Flock of Sheep THE CHARM OF THE ROAD. 919 purse forced him to take this means ofpaying for his food and lodging. I haveseen genuine works of art on such signs,and I remember upon one occasion usingevery ruse I knewto secure an ex-ceptionally fineone. The land-lord would neithersell it nor let mehave it as a offered him manyhundreds of francs,but his reply was, I do not wantyour money; Iwant my sign. It is interestingto note how thecooking varies withthe locality. Thefarther south onegoes the morespicy the dishesbecome, and thewine more liberal—although a drunk-ard is seldom tobe seen. In thenorth the mealsare not so rich asin the south, andwine is, to an ex-tent, replaced bybeer or alcohol. Itmay be safely saidthat one reason forthe non-success ofFrance as a col-onizing nation maybe found in thegood cooking of their country, for Frenchmen are seldomsatisfied with the culinary
Size: 1910px × 1309px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorvarious, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1902