e is not a
town in the world where there are so many persons who sell wine as in
Paris, but as there is a great deal of quackery and compounding
practised, I must caution my countrymen not to purchase at any house to
which they are not particularly recommended. I shall therefore advise
them to give the preference to the old established house of Meunier,
which has existed ever since 1800, now conducted by Messrs. Debonnelle
et Guiard; I have myself long dealt there, as also my friends, and have
ever found their prices the most reasonable, and the qualities
unexceptionable; their tarif comprehends all descriptions of wine, and
the charges in proportion, commencing on so moderate a scale that they
are attainable to the most modest purse, and as there is no description
of known wine which they do not possess, of course some there are at
very high prices; the same case may be stated of their liqueurs, of
which they have every variety. In this establishment persons may either
be accommodated with a single bottle, or may purchase by the pipe, as
they carry on an extensive wholesale business; their great warehouses
are at Bercy which is the grand depot for the wine merchants of Paris.
This is one of those houses to which I have before alluded as having,
although nearly in the centre of the city, a delightful garden, and in
the present instance quite a little aviary of canary and other birds,
which is open to the street, situated No. 22, Rue des Saints-Peres,
Faubourg St. Germain. The present proprietors were clerks in the house
as long back as 1810, and have never since been absent from the
business, which has been considerably augmented by their extreme
attention and civility to their customers, and the reputation which they
have acquired for keeping good articles, and vending them at fair
prices.

As a great object of my work is to render it as serviceable as possible
to my readers, I must not omit some cautionary remarks upon the
tradespeople of Paris; an opinion has generally existed of their
predisposition to overcharge the English, and in a great many instances
it has been the case, when they first came over to France; an idea
existed that they were extremely rich, and a bad feeling prevailed of
making the wealthy pay: even amongst their own country people, they do
the same, it is a common phrase with them, "Il est riche, alors
faites-lui payer," "He is rich, so make him pay," and that system of
calculating the weight of