excursions or deviations from the main road just noticed. Mr. Birkbeck says that economy was strictly attended to; and in this we perfectly agree with him, for the sum he mentions is certainly too small to allow the traveller all the little comforts of a tour of pleasure for so long a time, particuTarly in the case of various excursions. But there is still a more economical mode of travelling, if time be not an object, by water-carriage, on the various canals and rivers which abound in France. The following Itinerary will shew the distances by land and water, in a tour into the south, nearly such as is described in volume, and the amount of each sort of tra By land. By water. Leagues. Leagues, 6191 From Calais to Paris......t " • Ni 133 Marseilles to Aix.... Aix to Arles... Arles to Nismes.. ION 12 16 53 Making in the whole 529 Trench leagues, or about 1330 English miles. They who prefer making a short tour of a month or six weeks, may take the tour of the Loire, described in Chapter VI, and will find this one of the most interesting in France: this may be done for 40l. or 5ol. including the journey to and from Paris. Indeed, those who are continually moving from place to place, cannot expect to expend less than a guinea per day, though, if time be not an object, the sum will be somewhat lessened. Nothing more need be said, we imagine, as to any other plan of travelling, every chapter of this work presenting a distinct tour, which may he altered or abridged at pleasure. Those who do not travel with a servant, will be generally charged at the inns, one franc for breakfast of coffee; three francs for dinner, including half a bottle of vin du pays, common wine; this is the usual price of tables d'hôte: and a franc, or one and a half, or two francs, for a bed. On the road from Calais and Dieppe to Paris these charges are higher; as breakfasts, always two francs, and bed the same. This is also the case near the metropolis. Supper the same charge as dinner. Expense of living in France.-If we make our estimate not on a few particular articles, but on all that is necessary to the maintenance and education of a family, it may be stated, that, in peace, one hundred pounds will go as far, but not farther, in France, than one hundred and fifty pounds in England. In war the difference was greater, but peace has had no effect in reducing prices in France. It is fit, however, to add, that an income of five hundred pounds a-year will introduce a family much more into society than one of seven or eight hundred pounds in England; the practice of our southern neighbours being to meet, not at dinner, but in evening parties, and to lay but little stress on the aspect of the mansion or furniture of the friends whom they visit their grand object is to meet with lively companions, and to pass their time agreeably; and the intimacy is kept up with very little regard to the amount of the property of the new comers, or to their style of living. A previous knowledge of the language, to some extent at least, is necessary; the French seldom knowing any thing of English, though quick in comprehending a broken phrase, are never disposed to ridicule a foreigner. The following is a circumstantial estimate of family expenses, taken from a return of several provincial towns of the larger class (from 10,000 to 30,000 inhabitants), and applicable, with slight modifications, to most of the places in the northern and central parts of France, which can with any propriety be recommended for the residence of an English family. Rent of an unfurnished house of nine or ten rooms, with a garden, from 3ol, to 50l. sterling a-year. Taxes, as far as payable by the tenant, 51. a-year. Improvements necessary to adapt a house to an English family: these occur chiefly in the first year, and, supposing an occupancy of six years, may average, after deducting the allowance eventually obtained from the proprietor, 77. a-year. Wages; a man-servant, 10l. or 127. a-year; a woman-cook, 81. to 10l. a-year; house-maid, 51. to 81. a-year; a mechanic, 25. to 2s. 6d. a-day; labourer, is. 3d. a-day. Fuel; three room-fires 1 in winter, and a kitchen-fire throughout the year, 251. to 3ol. a-year. Butcher's meat; beef (the English lb.) 4d. to 6d.; mutton, 4d. to 6d. ; veal, 4d. to 6d. pork, 8d. Fish, in the maritime districts, plenty sand cheap. Poultry; a goose or turkey, 25. to 4s; a couple of fowls, 2s. to 4s. Butter, fresh ; (in summer), gd. 10 1s, 3d. per lb. Milk, the pot of two quarts, 3d. to 4d. Eggs, commonly 5d. a dozen. Small beer, 5d. the gallon. (The customary drink is cider, or vin du pays). Candles, according to quality, 8d. and 9d. per lb. Bread; the quartern loaf, in an ordinary season, 6d. Groceries, nearly as in England, tea being cheaper, but sugar somewhat dearer. Clothes; linen and silks cheaper, cotton manufactures dearer, than in England; woollens dearer, but more durable. Education; boarding-schools, girls 257. a-year (including extras); boys 3ol. (including extras). Board in a family, with private tuition, girls 551. to 401; boys 50l. Private lessons, by the hour, in the French language, 1s. to 4s.; ditto in music, 18. 6d. to 5s. Board and lodging in a private family, for a single gentleman or lady, 40l. to 6ol. a-year; and even for 30. in the neighbourhood of Bordeaux, in the south, and towards the Pyrenees. All these prices are the same, or nearly the same in peace and war; the only article of expense affected by an influx of Engfish into any particular town, is house-rent. As to the quality of provisions, French butcher's meat and butter are not equal to English, except in Normandy; but the bread and the poultry are extremely good throughout. The usual fuel is wood, but coals may be had in several places, and will become more easily attainable as the inland navigation is improved. Particular Districts.-On considering the relative merits of particular residences, we shall find that, to families in easy circumstances, Versailles, St. Germains, and other places in the vicinity of Paris, may be expedient; but, in point of economy, the banks of the Loire and Lower Normandy have the advantage, by a full third, of the metropolis and its neighbourhood. Tours on the Loire, and Caen in Normandy, are favourite places of resort with our countrymen, and very fit residences they are for the genteel economist. The comforts of life, and the enjoyments of society, may here be procured at one-third less than in a provincial town in England; but those with whom saving is a paramount consideration, will do well to move farther westward, and seek a retired place, such as Saumur, Avranches, or some of the various other places mentioned in the course of this work, particularly some of the towns in Britanny. The farther saving is about twenty-five per cent. on the prices of Caen or Tours; but it is attended with considerable inconvenience, and in particular with the want of good schools and genteel society. Rouen is dear, being little below the level of Paris; it is, besides, much more a place for business than for education or retired life. In the south of France, prices, with the exception of wine, are nearly on a level with the northern and central parts; while, to English children, there is a very serious danger from the intensity of the summer heats. On the whole, there seems no reason that an English family, going abroad for the purpose of economy and education, should contemplate a > residence to the southward of the Loire. As to climate, the general rule is, that all along the coast it partakes of the character of our own, being changeable and humid, but without unpleasant extremes either of heat or cold, while, in the interior, it is less variable, the winter shorter by several weeks, but the summer so far hotter as to prevent the taking of exercise in the middle of the day. *. For further information on the choice of a residence in France, we refer to the body of this work, in which the merits of every place worthy of notice in this respect are stated, and the best and most recent information given on the subject. See also the Monthly Magazine, for March, April, May, ,,,༔! |