r_ is a winter garden, and contains many roofed
hot-houses. The public are admitted by the payment of one franc. There
are occasional displays of flowers and plants.

The _Champs Elysees_ form one of the most delightful promenades in
Paris. They contain no plants or flowers, but are so thickly planted
with trees, that they may be called gardens. It was originally a
promenade for Marie de Medici. It runs along the banks of the Seine,
from the Place de la Concorde to the Triumphal Arch. The length is a
mile and a quarter, the breadth three hundred and seventy-three yards.
All the public fetes take place on these fields. On the right is the
promenade, and on the left under the trees and in open spaces are fairs,
instrumental performances, shows, etc. etc. It is one of the most
dazzling scenes in the night that ever eye beheld. I well remember that
on my first visit to Paris, I wandered out of my hotel and saw the
Champs Elysees in the evening. The sight was almost overpowering. The
whole place was a scene of splendor. The trees and grounds were one
blaze of lamps. Scattered over it were little theaters, concerts in the
open air, every kind of show, coffee-houses, restaurants, and every kind
of amusement. The concerts charge nothing. But if you enter within the
ring you pay for a seat a trifle, and also for your refreshments. Almost
everyone who entered, (it was all in the open air,) bought a glass of
something to drink, and sat down to enjoy it with the music. Fiddlers
and mountebanks abounded in every direction, and beggars were more
numerous if possible than the spectators. But not one _solicited_ alms.
It would jar too coarsely upon the Parisian refinement. A beggar sings,
looks piteously, plays his flageolet or harp, but never _asks_ for
money! The whole scene presented to me was one of the most brilliant I
ever witnessed, and it probably impressed me more from the fact that I
was unprepared for it. I have often since frequented it in the evening,
but never wearied of it.

The _Jardin des Plantes_ is the most beautiful free garden in the world.
It was founded in 1635 by Louis XIII. Buffon was its most celebrated
superintendent. He devoted himself enthusiastically to its cultivation
and development. It was at periods, during the revolutionary times, much
neglected, but it continued to prosper through everything, unlike many
of the other gardens. It consists of a botanical garden with several
large hot-houses and green-