About Paris . s, the same rushof carriages, the same ponderous omnibuses withfine straining white horses, the flowers in thebooths, and the newspapers neatly piled roundthe colored kiosks. The Champs Elysces is hardly a street, but asa thoroughfare it is the most remarkable in theworld. It is a much better show than are theboulevards. The place for which you pay toenter is generally more interesting than the placeto which admittance is free, and any one can walkalong the boulevards, but to ride in the ChampsElysees you must pay something, even if youtake your fiacre by the hour. Some Parisians
About Paris . s, the same rushof carriages, the same ponderous omnibuses withfine straining white horses, the flowers in thebooths, and the newspapers neatly piled roundthe colored kiosks. The Champs Elysces is hardly a street, but asa thoroughfare it is the most remarkable in theworld. It is a much better show than are theboulevards. The place for which you pay toenter is generally more interesting than the placeto which admittance is free, and any one can walkalong the boulevards, but to ride in the ChampsElysees you must pay something, even if youtake your fiacre by the hour. Some Parisiansregret that the Avenue des Champs Elyseesshould be so cheapened that it is not reserved forcarriages hired by the month, and not by thecourse, and that omnibuses and hired cabs arenot kept out of it, as they are kept out of HydePark. But should this rule obtain the Avenuedes Champs Elysees would lose the most amus-ing of its features. It would shut out the youngmarried couples and their families and friends in. THE STREETS OF PARIS 2/ their gala clothes, which look strangely unfamil-iar in the sunlight, and make you think that thewearers have been up all night; and the hundredsof girls in pairs from the Jardin de Paris, whohave halved the expense of a fiacre, but whocannot yet afford a brougham ; and the Englishtourists dressed in flannel shirts and hunting-capsand knickerbockers, exactly as though they werepenetrating the mountains of Afghanistan or thedeserts of Syria, and as unashamed of their pro-vincialism as the young marquis who passes onhis dog-cart is unashamed of having placed thegirl with him on his right hand instead of hisleft, though by so doing he tells every one whopasses who and what she is. It would shut out theomnibuses, with the rows of spectators on theirtops, who lean on their knees and look down intothe carriages below, and point out the prettiestgowns and faces; and it would exckide themarket-wagons laden with huge piles of yellowcarrots and purple radis
Size: 1308px × 1911px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidaboutparis03, bookyear1903
