iegated shrines adorn the
numerous chapels. The pictures are good in general; as to the tapestry,
I think it had better be removed, which I dare say it will be as taste
refines. It is to be regretted that the towers of Notre-Dame have so
heavy and black appearance, which is increased by a parcel of dark
unseemly shutters. On the outside towards the north, there are some
pieces of sculpture well worth examination; they are beautifully
executed although much deteriorated by time, and appear to be works of
about the thirteenth century. There are some curious brasses which would
be very interesting to persons capable of decyphering them, one in
particular to the left on entering, but so much in the dark that it is
difficult to make it out, especially as the characters at best are not
easy to understand, but I recommend them to the inspection of those
persons who have time and inclination to study such subjects. The view
of the city from the towers affords an ample panorama, and displays the
positions of the principal monuments.

The Hotel Dieu is one of the finest establishments of the kind in
Europe, it is an hospital for the sick, in which they can make up 1,500
beds, but there is nothing in its external appearance that is very
striking. The Archiepiscopal Palace had not a very attractive exterior,
but now, as they are partly demolishing and rebuilding it all, remarks
must be suspended until it be finished. No other object presents itself
particularly worth notice on this island, once the celebrated Lutetia,
but many of the houses have a very old appearance, and are some of them
probably of three or four hundred years standing; the curious observer
inspecting them will here and there find indications of the middle ages.
If the reader like to pass over to the Isle St. Louis, it will but take
him a few minutes, which is about as much as it is worth; the only
object exciting attention is the Hotel Chamisot, No. 45, Rue St. Louis,
and the church of St. Louis, built in 1664. In this edifice there are
some pictures worthy remark and a curious spire. The Hotel Lambert, No.
2, Rue St. Louis, also merits attention, being most richly adorned with
paintings, gilded mouldings, frescos, etc. Voltaire lived in it, and
Napoleon had a long conversation in the gallery in 1815 with his
minister, Montalivet, when he found all was lost.

I shall now conduct my reader from the little Isle St. Louis by the Pont
de Tournelle to the Quay de Tou