e
country. The churches here are handsome, the tower of one of them is
said to have been built by the _English_.

The Vineyards in this neighbourhood are numerous, and the wine is much
esteemed.

I waited here for the arrival of the Paris Diligence, in which I
proposed to proceed to Dijon, wishing not to leave France without having
made trial of one of their public carriages.

The appearance of that which I saw at Calais was much against it; the
one I met with here proved a very tedious conveyance, not going in
general above three or four English miles an hour; which, however is as
much as could be expected from a carriage which is scarcely less laden
than many of our waggons. It was drawn by five horses, all managed by
_one_ postilion, mounted on one of the wheel horses, and furnished with
a vast and _unwieldy_ pair of _boots_, cased with iron, and a long whip,
which he is perpetually employed in cracking. Another important
personage is Monsieur le _Conducteur_, who has the care of the luggage,
&c. The French in general adhere to old customs, as well as the
postilions to their antiquated boots; their hour of dinner in general
being from eleven to twelve o'clock, and seldom so late as one. This in
England would be considered only as a _Dejeuner a la Fourchette_. The
hour of supper is from seven to nine, according as the length of the
stages may determine.

If the _hour_ of a French dinner is singular to an Englishman, the
order in which it is served up is not less so. The soup (that great
essential to a Frenchman) is always followed by bouilli, which having
contributed to make the soup, is itself very tasteless.--Fricassees and
poultry succeed; then follow fish and vegetables, and last of all comes
the roti, which, as I before had occasion to observe, is so much done as
not to be very palatable. The pastry and desert conclude their dinners,
which certainly deserve the praise of being both cheap and abundant. The
fruit is astonishingly cheap; I. have seen excellent peaches sell for a
sous apiece. A traveller is not, however, in general disposed to
criticise these singularities, either in the hour or order of the repast
with too much severity, as the remark attributed to Alexander the Great,
has probably been made by many of less celebrity, "that night travelling
serves to give a better appetite than all the skill of confectioners."

The general price of the Table d'Hote in France, including the _vin
ordinaire_, is