decorations for restaurateurs and coffee-houses, and yet have
succeeded.

The occupations of the higher classes in Paris are much the same as they
are in other capitals; both sexes are more fond of taking baths than
they are in London, and even when they have that convenience in their
own houses, the men often prefer lounging to the most fashionable public
baths. The young sparks of fashion are very fond of sumptuous breakfasts
at the most stylish coffee-houses in Paris, and often begin by taking a
few dozen of oysters by way of giving them an appetite; beefsteaks
dressed in the English style, a few choice French dishes, two or three
sorts of wine, desert, and coffee, generally compose the repast until
the dinner hour. The time is filled up with walking, riding, driving,
practising gymnastic exercises, pistol-shooting, fencing, etc. After
dinner, which usually terminates about eight, and is in fact the same
thing as the breakfast on a more extensive scale, they proceed to the
theatres; those most in vogue with the beau monde are the Italian Opera,
the French Opera or Academie de Musique, the Comic Opera, and the
Theatre Francais. After the performances are over, they generally lounge
into some favourite coffee-house, and then close the day to recommence
another, following much the same course, with some trifling variation.
But now the favourite pursuit amongst young men of fashion, is that of
riding and every thing which is connected with horses, such as racing,
leaping, steeple chasing, and discussing their different qualities and
the various modes of breaking them in, in England and in France.

But there is no subject upon which there is so much difference of
opinion between the two nations as upon that of equestrian exercises and
the management and training of horses. Our bold fox-hunters and daring
steeple chasers, I am aware, will not for an instant imagine that there
are any riders to be found equal to Englishmen, whilst the French,
although they give us credit for doing many things better than
themselves, do not at all admire our horsemanship. They admit that our
good riders are not easily thrown, and keep their seat under many
difficult and dangerous circumstances, but they contend that the English
generally have not sufficient command over their horses in making them
obey every wish of the rider, whilst the accomplished French cavalier
will make his horse go backwards, sideways, right, or left, in a direct
li