Wednesday, October 31, 2007

People who take apartments in Paris often prefer to have their meals



sent to their private rooms, and by a special bargain this is done by
any of the restaurants, but more especially by a class of houses called
_traiteurs_, whose chief business is to furnish cooked dishes to
families in their own homes
People who take apartments in Paris often prefer to have their meals
sent to their private rooms, and by a special bargain this is done by
any of the restaurants, but more especially by a class of houses called
_traiteurs_, whose chief business is to furnish cooked dishes to
families in their own homes. In going to a hotel in Paris, the stranger
never feels in the slightest degree bound to get his meals there. He
hires his room and that is all, and goes where he pleases. The _cafes_
are in the best portions of the town, magnificent places, often
exceeding in splendor the restaurants. They furnish coffee, chocolate,
all manner of ices and fruits, and cigars. At these places one meets
well-dressed ladies, and more than once in them I have seen well-dressed
women smoking cigarettes. Love intrigues are carried on at these places,
for a Paris lady can easily steal from her home to such a place under
cover of the night. A majority, however, of the women to be seen at such
places, are those who have no position in society, the wandering nymphs
of the night, or the poor grisettes. It is not strange that the poor
shop-girl is easily attracted to such gorgeous places by men far above
her in station.