Paris as It Was and as It Is Part 34

Without going out of this capital, you may, in the season when Nature puts on her verdant livery, visit _Idalium_, present your incense to the Graces, and adore, in her temple, the queen of love; while at _Tivoli_, you may, perhaps, find as many beauties and charms as were formerly admired at the enchanting spot on the banks of the Anio, which, under its ancient name of _Tibur_, was so extolled by the Latin poets; and close to the Boulevard, at _Frascati_, you may, in that gay season, eat ices as good as those with which Cardinal de Bernis used to regale his visiters, at his charming villa in the _Campagna di Roma_. Who therefore need travel farther than Paris to enjoy every gratification?

If then, towards the close of a war, the most frightful and destructive that ever was waged, the useful and agreeable seem to have proceeded here hand in hand in improvement, what may not be expected in the tranquillity of a few years' peace? Who knows but the emperor Julian's "_dear Lutetia_" may one day vie in splendour with Thebes and its hundred gates, or ancient Rome covering its seven mountains?

However, if _Tivoli_ and _Frascati_ throw open their delightful recesses to the votaries of pleasure only in spring and summer, even now, during the fogs of December, you may repair to

PAPHOS.

It might almost be said that you enter this place of amus.e.m.e.nt gratis, for, though a slight tribute of seventy-five _centimes_ (_circa_ seven-pence halfpenny sterling) is required for the admission of every person, yet you may take refreshment to the amount of that sum, without again putting your hand into your pocket; because the counter mark, given at the door, is received at the bar as ready-money.

This speculation, the first of the kind in France, and one of the most specious, is, by all accounts, also one of the most productive.

It would be too rigorous, no doubt, to compare the frequenters of the modern PAPHOS to the inhabitants of the ancient. Here, indeed, you must neither look for _elegantes_, nor _muscadins_; but you may view belles, less gifted by Fortune, indulging in innocent recreation; and for a while dispelling their cares, by dancing to the exhilarating music of an orchestra not ill composed. Here, the grisette banishes the _ennui_ of six days' application to the labours of her industry, by footing it away on Sunday. Hither, in short, the less refined sons and daughters of mirth repair to see and be seen, and to partake of the general diversion.

PAPHOS is situated on that part of the Boulevard, called the _Boulevard du Temple_, whither I was led the other evening by that sort of curiosity, which can be satisfied only when the objects that afford it aliment are exhausted. I had just come out of another place of public amus.e.m.e.nt, at no great distance, called

LA PHANTASMAGORIE.

This is an exhibition in the _Cour des Capucines_, adjoining to the Boulevard, where ROBERTSON, a skilful professor of physics, amuses or terrifies his audience by the appearance of spectres, phantoms, &c.

In the piece which I saw, called _Le Tombeau de Robespierre_, he carries illusion to an extraordinary degree of refinement. His cabinet of physics is rich, and his effects of optics are managed in the true style of French gallantry. His experiments of galvanism excite admiration. He repeats the difficult ones of M. VOLTA, and clearly demonstrates the electrical phenomena presented by the metallic pile. A hundred disks of silver and a hundred pieces of zinc are sufficient for him to produce attractions, sparks, the divergency of the electrometer, and electric hail. He charges a hundred Leyden bottles by the simple contact of the metallic pile. ROBERTSON, I understand, is the first who has made these experiments in Paris, and has succeeded in discharging VOLTA's pistol by the galvanic spark.

FITZJAMES, a famous ventriloquist, entertains and astonishes the company by a display of his powers, which are truly surprising.

You may, perhaps, be desirous to procure your family circle the satisfaction of enjoying the _Phantasmagoria_, though not on the grand scale on which it is exhibited by ROBERTSON. By the communication of a friend, I am happy in being enabled to make you master of the secret, as nothing can be more useful in the education of children than to banish from their mind the deceitful illusion of ghosts and hobgoblins, which they are so apt to imbibe from their nurses. But to the point--"You have," says my author, "only to call in the first itinerant foreigner, who perambulates the streets with a _galantee-show_ (as it is commonly termed in London), and by imparting to him your wish, if he is not deficient in intelligence and skill, he will soon be able to give you a rehearsal of the apparition of phantoms: for, by approaching or withdrawing the stand of his show, and finding the focus of his gla.s.ses, you will see the objects diminish or enlarge either on the white wall, or the sheet that is extended.

"The illusion which leads us to imagine that an object which increases in all its parts, is advancing towards us, is the basis of the _Phantasmagoria_, and, in order to produce it with the _galantee-show_, you have only to withdraw slowly the lantern from the place on which the image is represented, by approaching the outer lens to that on which the object is traced: this is easily done, that gla.s.s being fixed in a moveable tube like that of an opera-gla.s.s.

As for approaching the lantern gradually, it may be effected with the same facility, by placing it on a little table with castors, and, by means of a very simple mechanism, it is evident that both these movements may be executed together in suitable progression.

"The deception recurred to by phantasmagorists is further increased by the mystery that conceals, from the eyes of the public, their operations and optical instruments: but it is easy for the showman to s.n.a.t.c.h from them this superiority, and to strengthen the illusion for the children whom you choose to amuse with this sight. For that purpose, he has only to change the arrangement of the sheet, by requiring it to be suspended from the ceiling, between him and the spectators, much in the same manner as the curtain of a playhouse, which separates the stage from the public. The transparency of the cloth shews through it the coloured rays, and, provided it be not of too thick and too close a texture, the image presents itself as clear on the one side as on the other.

"If to these easy means you could unite those employed by ROBERTSON, such as the black hangings, which absorb the coloured rays, the little musical preparations, and others, you might transform all the _galantee-shows_ into as many _phantasmagorias_, in spite of the priority of invention, which belongs, conscientiously, to Father KIRCHER, a German Jesuit, who first found means to apply his knowledge respecting light to the construction of the magic lantern.

"The coloured figures, exhibited by the phatasmagorists, have no relation to these effects of light: they are effigies covered with gold-beater's skin, or any other transparent substance, in which is placed a dark lantern. The light of this lantern is extinguished or concealed by pulling a string, or touching a spring, at the moment when any one wishes to seize on the figure, which, by this contrivance, seems to disappear.

"The proprietors of the grand exhibitions of _phantasmagoria_ join to these simple means a combination of different effects, which they partly derive from the phenomena, presented by the _camera obscura_.

Some faint idea of that part of physics, called optics, which NEWTON illuminated, by his genius and experience, are sufficient for conceiving the manner in which these appearances are produced, though they require instruments and particular care to give them proper effect."

Such is the elucidation given of the _phantasmagoria_ by an intelligent observer, whose friend favoured me with this communication.

LETTER x.x.xVII.

_Paris, December 21, 1801._

If Paris affords a thousand enjoyments to the man of fortune, it may truly be said that, without money, Paris is the most melancholy abode in the world. Privations are then the more painful, because desires and even wants are rendered more poignant by the ostentatious display of every object which might satisfy them. What more cruel for an unfortunate fellow, with an empty purse, than to pa.s.s by the kitchen of a _restaurateur_, when, pinched by hunger, he has not the means of procuring himself a dinner? His olfactory nerves being still more readily affected when his stomach is empty, far from affording him a pleasing sensation, then serve only to sharpen the torment which he suffers. It is worse than the punishment of Tantalus, who, dying with thirst, could not drink, though up to his chin in water.

Really, my dear friend, I would advise every rich epicure to fix his residence in this city. Without being plagued by the details of housekeeping, or even at the trouble of looking at a bill of fare, he might feast his eye, and his appet.i.te too, on the inviting plumpness of a turkey, stuffed with truffles. A boar's head set before him, with a Seville orange between its tusks, might make him fancy that he was discussing the greatest interests of mankind at the table of an Austrian Prime Minister, or British Secretary of State; while _pates_ of _Chartres_ or of _Perigord_ hold out to his discriminating palate all the refinements of French seasoning. These, and an endless variety of other dainties, no less tempting, might he contemplate here, in walking past a _magazin de comestibles_ or provision-warehouse.

Among the changes introduced here, within these few years, I had heard much of the improvements in the culinary art, or rather in the manner of serving up its productions; but, on my first arrival in Paris, I was so constantly engaged in a succession of dinner-parties, that some time elapsed before I could avail myself of an opportunity of dining at the house of any of the fas.h.i.+onable

RESTAURATEURS.

This is a t.i.tle of no very ancient date in Paris. _Traiteurs_ have long existed here: independently of furnis.h.i.+ng repasts at home, these _traiteurs_, like Birch in Cornhill, or any other famous London cook, sent out dinners and suppers. But, in 1765, one BOULANGER conceived the idea of _restoring_ the exhausted animal functions of the debilitated Parisians by rich soups of various denominations. Not being a _traiteur_, it appears that he was not authorized to serve ragouts; he therefore, in addition to his _restorative_ soups, set before his customers new-laid eggs and boiled fowl with strong gravy sauce: those articles were served up without a cloth, on little marble tables. Over his door he placed the following inscription, borrowed from Scripture: "_Venite ad me omnes qui stomacho laboratis, et ego restaurabo vos._"

Such was the origin of the word and profession of _restaurateur_.

Other cooks, in imitation of BOULANGER, set up as _restorers_, on a similar plan, in all the places of public entertainment where such establishments were admissible. Novelty, fas.h.i.+on, and, above all, dearness, brought them into vogue. Many a person who would have been ashamed to be seen going into a _traiteur's_, made no hesitation of entering a _restaurateur's_, where he paid nearly double the price for a dinner of the same description. However, as, in all trades, it is the great number of customers that enrich the trader, rather than the select few, the _restaurateurs_, in order to make their business answer, were soon under the necessity of const.i.tuting themselves _traiteurs_; so that, in lieu of one t.i.tle, they now possess two; and this is the grand result of the primitive establishment.

At the head of the most noted _restaurateurs_ in Paris, previously to the revolution, was LA BARRIeRE in the _ci-devant Palais Royal_; but, though his larder was always provided with choice food, his cellar furnished with good wines, his bill of fare long, and the number of his customers considerable, yet his profits, he said, were not sufficiently great to allow him to cover his tables with linen. This omission was supplied by green wax cloth; a piece of economy which, he declared, produced him a saving of near 10,000 livres (_circa_ 400 sterling) per annum in the single article of was.h.i.+ng. Hence you may form an idea of the extent of such an undertaking. I have often dined at LA BARRIeRE'S was always well served, at a moderate charge, and with remarkable expedition. Much about that time, BEAUVILLIERS, who had opened, within the same precincts, a similar establishment, but on a more refined plan, proved a most formidable rival to LA BARRIeRE, and at length eclipsed him.

After a lapse of almost eleven years, I again find this identical BEAUVILLIERS still in the full enjoyment of the greatest celebrity.

ROBERT and NAUDET in the _Palais du Tribunat_, and VeRY on the _Terrace des Feuillant_ dispute with him the palm in the art of Apicius. All these, it is true, furnish excellent repasts, and their wines are not inferior to their cooking: but, after more than one impartial trial, I think I am justified in giving the preference to BEAUVILLIERS. Let us then take a view of his arrangements: this, with a few variations in price or quality, will serve as a general picture of the _ars coquinaria_ in Paris.

On the first floor of a large hotel, formerly occupied, perhaps, by a farmer-general, you enter a suite of apartments, decorated with arabesques, and mirrors of large dimensions, in a style no less elegant than splendid, where tables are completely arranged for large or small parties. In winter, these rooms are warmed by ornamental stoves, and lighted by _quinquets_, a species of Argand's lamps. They are capable of accommodating from two hundred and fifty to three hundred persons, and, at this time of the year, the average number that dine here daily is about two hundred; in summer, it is considerably decreased by the attractions of the country, and the parties of pleasure made, in consequence, to the environs of the capital.

On the left hand, as you pa.s.s into the first room, rises a sort of throne, not unlike the _estrado_ in the grand audience-chamber of a Spanish viceroy. This throne is encircled by a barrier to keep intruders at a respectful distance. Here sits a lady, who, from her majestic gravity and dignified bulk, you might very naturally suppose to be an empress, revolving in her comprehensive mind the affairs of her vast dominions. This respectable personage is Madame BEAUVILLIERS, whose most interesting concern is to collect from the gentlemen in waiting the cash which they receive at the different tables. In this important branch, she has the a.s.sistance of a lady, somewhat younger than herself, who, seated by her side, in stately silence, has every appearance of a maid of honour. A person in waiting near the throne, from his vacant look and obsequious carriage, might, at first sight, be taken for a chamberlain; whereas his real office, by no means an unimportant one, is to distribute into deserts the fruit and other _et ceteras_, piled up within his reach in tempting profusion.

We will take our seats in this corner, whence, without laying down our knife and fork, we can enjoy a full view of the company as they enter. We are rather early: by the clock, I perceive that it is no more than five: at six, however, there will scarcely be a vacant seat at any of the tables. "_Garcon, la carte_!"--"_La voila devant vous, Monsieur._"

Good heaven! the bill of fare is a printed sheet of double _folio_, of the size of an English newspaper. It will require half an hour at least to con over this important catalogue. Let us see; Soups, thirteen sorts.--_Hors-d'oeuvres_, twenty-two species.--Beef, dressed in eleven different ways.--Pastry, containing fish, flesh and fowl, in eleven shapes. Poultry and game, under thirty-two various forms.

--Veal, amplified into twenty-two distinct articles.--Mutton, confined to seventeen only.--Fish, twenty-three varieties.--Roast meat, game, and poultry, of fifteen kinds.--Entremets, or side-dishes, to the number of forty-one articles.--Desert, thirty-nine.--Wines, including those of the liqueur kind, of fifty-two denominations, besides ale and porter.--Liqueurs, twelve species, together with coffee and ices.

Fudge! fudge! you cry--Pardon me, my good friend, 'tis no fudge. Take the tremendous bill of fare into your own hand. _Vide et lege_. As we are in no particular hurry, travel article by article through the whole enumeration. This will afford you the most complete notion of the expense of dining at a fas.h.i.+onable _restaurateur's_ in Paris.

BEAUVILLIERS, RESTAURATEUR

_Anciennement a la grande Tavernede la Republique, Palais-Egalite, No. 142, Presentement Rue de la LOI, No. 1243._

PRIX DES METS POUR UNE PERSONNE.--LES ARTICLES DONT LES PRIX NE SONT POINT FIXES, MANQUENT.

POTAGES.

fr. s.

Potage aux laitues et pet.i.ts pois 0 15 Potage aux croutons a la puree 0 15 Potage aux choux 0 15 Potage au consomme 0 12 Potage au pain 0 12 Potage de sante 0 12 Potage au vermicel 0 12 Potage au ris 0 12 Potage a la julienne 0 12 Potage printanier 0 15 Potage a la puree 0 15 Potage au lait d'amandes 0 15 Potage en tortue 1 10

HORS-D'OEUVRES.

Tranche de melon 1 0 Artichaud a la poivrade 0 15 Raves et Radis 0 6 Salade de concombres 1 10 Thon marine 1 10 Anchois a l'huile 1 5 Olives 0 15 Pied de cochon a la Sainte-Menehould 0 12 Cornichons 0 8 Pet.i.t sale aux choux 1 5 Saucisses aux choux 0 18 1 Pet.i.t Pain de Beurre 0 4 2 OEufs frais 0 12 1 Citron 0 8 Rissole a la Choisy 1 0 Croquette de volaille 1 4 3 Rognons a la brochette 1 0 Tete de veau en tortue 2 5 Tete de veau au naturel 1 0 1 Cotelette de porc frais, sauce robert 1 0 Chou-Croute garni 1 10 Jambon de Mayence aux epinards 1 5

ENTReES DE BOEUF.

fr. s.

Boeuf au naturel ou a la sauce 0 15 Boeuf aux choux ou aux legumes 0 18 Carnebif 1 10 Rosbif 1 5 Filet de Boeuf saute dans sa glace 1 5 Bifteck 1 5 Entre-cote, sauce aux cornichons 1 5 Palais de Boeuf au gratin 1 4 Palais de Boeuf a la poulette ou a l'Italienne 1 0 Langue de Boeuf glacee aux epinards 1 0 Jarrets de veau 0 15

ENTReES DE PATISSERIE.

Pate chaud de legumes 1 5 2 pet.i.ts Pates a la Bechamel 1 4 2 pet.i.ts Pates au jus 0 16 1 Pate chaud d'anguille 1 10 1 Pate chaud de cretes et de rognons de coqs 2 0 Tourte de G.o.diveau 1 0 Tourte aux confitures 1 5 Vol-au-Vent de filets de volailles 2 0 Vol-au-Vent de Saumon frais 1 10 Vol-au-Vent de morue a la Bechamel 1 5 Vol-au-Vent de cervelle de veau a l'Allemande 1 5