At one only did I attend often; that was Carlo
Perico's "Fantoccini," which amused me vastly. These marionettes were
so cleverly made, and their gestures were so natural, that the
delusion sometimes succeeded. My little girl, six years old almost,
did not at first suspect that the figures were not alive. I informed
her as to the truth, and when, soon after, I took her to the Comedie
Francaise, where my box was rather far from the stage, she asked me,
"And those, mamma, are they alive?"

The Coliseum was another highly fashionable resort. It was established
in one of the large squares of the Champs Elysees, in the form of a
vast rotunda. In the middle was a lake of clear water, on which
boatmen's races were held. You strolled round about in broad,
gravelled avenues lined with benches. At nightfall every one left the
garden to meet in a great hall where a full orchestra dispensed
excellent music. At this period there also was on the Temple boulevard
a place called the Summer Vauxhall, whose garden was simply a big
space for walking in, bordered by covered tiers of seats for the
convenience of good society. People gathered there before dark in warm
weather, and the diversions of the day closed with a grand display of
fireworks.

All these places were frequented much more than Tivoli is to-day. It
is surprising, too, that the Parisians, who have nothing but the
Tuileries and the Luxembourg, should have renounced those other
resorts, which were half urban and half rural, where you went in the
evening to get a breath of air and eat ices.

CHAPTER II

UP THE LADDER OF FAME

TEDIOUS SOJOURN IN THE COUNTRY -- SOCIAL AMENITIES IN PARIS --
MLLE. VIGEE BECOMES MME. LEBRUN -- PROGNOSTICATIONS OF UNHAPPY
WEDLOCK -- ON THE LADDER OF FAME -- SINGULARITIES OF ORIENTAL
TASTE -- MARIE ANTOINETTE AS A MODEL -- PAINTING THE ROYAL FAMILY
-- HOW LOUIS XVIII. SANG -- THE PRINCESS DE LAMBALLE.

My detestable stepfather, annoyed no doubt by the public admiration
shown my mother, forbade us to go for any more walks, and informed us
that he was about to take a place in the country. At this announcement
my heart beat with joy, for I was passionately fond of the country. I
had been sleeping near the foot of my mother's bedstead, in a dark
corner where the light of day never penetrated. Every morning,
whatever the weather might be, my first care was to open the window
wide, such was my thirst for fresh air.