OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 134, 3 December 1929, Page 19

OUR PARIS LETTER

THE AGE OF GARPS

THE POOLS AT FONTAINEBLEAU

(From "The Post's" Representative.) PABIS, 3rd October.

When King Francis I. of Franco, holding in his hand the hand of one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, went Btrolling on the sward at Fontainebleau on a soft May day, that must have boen a pretty sight. There is not a gossip alive who would not have relished twisting her neck round some lime tree to see the innocent goings-on, and then hot-footing it to tell the Queen about it. A story such ps she could probably have related would hold her listeners interested oven nowadays.

But, fortunate for the memory of King Francis, or, as Anatole France would have said, unfortunately, there is not a. being alivo who is able to tell of what went on at Fontainebleau 400 years ago. Nevertheless there are several beings alive who were spectators of those sweet happenings. But they cannot toll. Their eyes have grown cowlike and tender for having kept to themselves so long what they have seen, but they will never tell. "Muet comme uno carpe," runs the old French saying. The carps in the pools at Fontainebleau are the witnesses of what went on at the water's edge, but they are as mute as it is possible to be mute. They have lived at Fontainebleau, so it is said, since the stocking of the pools by Francis 1., and they have never yet learned to become communicative. They are quite the oldest carp recorded in history. Perhaps it is because of their great age that the carp at Fontainebleau seemed bo bored with life.

DIGGING UP OLD PARIS. It is possible that ono day, not far distant, excavations may be carried out in the neighbourhood of Sainte-. Chapelle.' , The Commission dv VieuxParis has just expressed the hope that the city authorities will join with it in an effort to recover the remains of several important personages who were "buried near the church directly or were transferred there after death. Among the tombs which are thought'to be under the church are those of the Abbe Dubois, called Cretin, (the Eominagrobis of Rabelais), who was the historian of Louis XI., Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francois 1., and several distinguished warriors, whose families were known to have vaults nearby. It is also believed that the urn in which were placed parts of the remains of Mazarin might. be found beneath the Sainte-Chapelle. It may be added that excavations are at present being carried out near the Place dv Ohatelet beneath, the side of the ancient fortress from which the square takes its name, and under the Kuo dcs Celestins, which marked'the limit of the city as fortified by Charles V.

SEVENTY-FIVE MILE TRUANTS. Those three youthful adventurers, students of the Lyeee Louis Le Grand, who set off one fine morning the other day to find adventure in foreign lands, did not get very far. Prance itself, they found, was a bigger proposition than they had bargained for. Their adventures, in fact, came to an end at -Montargis, about 75 miles from Paris. . There the three doughty explorers were found very wet and very hungry, and glad enough to find someone to take them home again. The history of their escapado throws an interesting light on the psychology of youth, especially modern youth. One of them had been reprimanded for throwing little pebbles during a lesson. ... He resented the punishment. At

his ago ho was not goiug to stand that kind of indignity. To his friends ho announced his intention of going to Algeria, where ho had a cousin. Two of them said: "We'll follow you."' Ona of them secured money. They bought three bicycles and' sot out. The idea was to rido as far as a southern port and there stow, away on a sailing ship bound for Algeria. Two nights in the open,' one in tho drenching rain, set them thinking of home, md thus at Montargis. they surrendered. "LADIES ONLY" AGAIN.

Only the older generatior can remember certain compartments of French railway carriages which were marked "Dames Seules." They were not precisely a success; oftener than not being only partly occupied, which became a source of' much bitter comment when accommodation was cramped in the other parts of the train. Eventually this "Ladies Only" notice was erased, and the divisions into "smoking" or "non-smoking" compartments took tho place of the old system. Far more women travel by train nowadays, and-, a movement has started in favour of restoring special compartments for those who prefer them. Tho claims of the ivomen have been put. forward- by the- Abbe Despres of . Viry-Chatillon, and tho. railway companies are -considering them. The Compagnie d'Orleans has already decided, as an experiment, to reserve a compartment for women- on most of its workmen's trains, and its results will be watched with much interest.

A LITTLE ART MUCH PLEASURE. The movement-of the night life of Paris to Montparnasse' is becoming more and moro evident. Never have the famous cafes there been so crowded as they arel just now, and the local liveliness goes on till almost breakfasttime. Up to quite recently it was possible to say that a great gulf was fixed between Montmartre and Mountparnasse, but it is to bo feared that' the difference between the two districts is becoming less and less. Many of the artists who formerly lived at Montmartre gravitated to Montparnasse, and nominally this is still an artistic quarter.

But how many real artists are there among the crowds that sit on the cafe terraces up to 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning? It is an interesting question, the answer to which is not to be given dogmatically. Some authorities will assure the inquirer that there are many serious artists here; others will tell you in dolorous tones that Montparnasso is to-day nothing more than a resort of pleasure-seekers, professional, idlers, and worse. But, umid much that is uncertain, it can be stated without tho least doubt that the predominance of Americans in Montparnasse is more pronounced this year than ever.