OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 140, 14 June 1924, Page 13

OUR PARIS LETTER

AN EASTER APPETITE

THE CHOCOLATE FEAST

(FROSI OCR OWN COnnCSPONDEKT.)

PARIS, 23rd April.

If Easter is the feast of spring flowers, it is also the feast of chocolates. One has only to look at the windows ot the confectionery shops on the boulevards to be aware of the fact. One may wonder who are the people who have time and taste to eat these gargantuan feasts of chocolate eggs. That they are bought and eaten we are assured by the confectioners themselves, for they declare that the Easter appetite for chocolate eggs is as prodigious as ever it was. And although Easter eggs have been-manufactured since the oldest of us can remember, the genius in confectionery has still some novelties to show. There are eggs and nests which contain the most unthinkable surprises. There is, too, an egg with a real shell which, with the original contents extracted, is filled with a delectable cream of rich and rare flavours. A sugary egg, coloured red, popular this year, represents the Alsatian egg, which, according to the pretty fable of the" province, is hidden by the Easter rr.bbit in the houses of the good little boys and girls. THE HORSE STILL FAVOURITE

The Paris Horse Show, which closed on Sunday, has shown that motoring has in no way affected riding as a sport. The young officers from the great French military academies, and the civilians who rode their own horses in the true sporting spirit, were just as enthusiastic and eager as their predecessors of the prewar generation The show also maintains its reputation as a chic gathering. The spectators express their sentiments with moderation, as if they were at a reception in a private house. When a hoof dislodges a bar, nothing more than a general "Ah!" of regret is heard, and any specially good achievement is received not- with cheers but with a gentle murmur of approval.

PRINCE ROLAND BONAPARTE. .Prince Eoland Bonaparte, who died at 5 o'clock yesterday morning at his house in the Avenue d lena, Paris, aged 66, was originally intended for a military career. He went through the usual course of study at Saint-Cyr Military Academy, and entered the army as a second lieutenant, but was obliged to resign his commission in 1880 in consequence, of the Republican legislation against members of families having formerly ruled over France. The rest of his life was chiefly devoted to science, travel, and-exploration. He was elected a member of the Academy of Science in 1907, and was a regular attendant at its meetings, and a generous supporter of geographical research. His 'only child, Princess George of Greece, was with him in his last illness.. Prince Roland, a cousin of Napoleon 111., was a grandson -of Lucien Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon I. , • I DOMESTIC SERVANTS AS POLITICIANS. Domestic servants, or gens de maison, as they prefer to be called, are trying to obtain special representation of their interests in the French Chamber of Deputies. At the coming General Election, on 11th May, they propose to no--1 minate in the first section of Paris a list_ of their own, comprising four of their fraternity, two civil engineers, a barrister, a commercial traveller, and others. This mixed representation seems to show that domestic helps and their employers are not necessarily divided in politics. . The former are anxious to obtain greater benefit from legislationlimiting the hours of labour, though they quite realise that it would be impracticable to apply the eight-hour day system to their occupation.

NIGHT OF TRAGIC MEMORY. A commemorative tablet on the wall of a house occupying the site of one of the most tragic incidents which occuri ed in Paris during the war was unveiled yesterday by M. Heraud, vice-presi-dent of the Municipal Council, in the piesence of M. Juillard, Prefect of the Seine, and other high officials. Exactly six years ago on the night of 12th April, 1918, German aeroplanes dropped two aerial torpedoes. One fell on No. 11, Rue de Rivoli, and the other m the street, shattering a gas main, causing an explosion, and setting fire to the house. Twenty-seven persons •were killed and 72 injured. The house was so badly damaged that it had to be pulled down, and its place is now occupied by a six-story building. The white marble tablet, with an inscription in red, is placed over the main doorway. SPINELLY'S WONDERFUL HOME. i Parisians and visitors who have seen Mile. Spinelly act in an extremely Parifian play will learn with interest, if its fame has not already reached them, that her-Paris home in the Champ de Mars district is one of the most beaut;ful of many beautiful homes iii the French capital. Except in the case of its pure 18th century English diningroom, with its white marble flooring, it represents a selection of the best that many styles can give. The narrow vestibule, with a colossal Buddha as its only ornament, leads through an opaline door, garlanded with iron arabesques to a Roman atrium with eight milk-white pillars, a glass roof, and a wonderful gold mosaic flooring executed by skilled Venetian workmen. Beyond is the studio, stocked with precious Chinese idols and vases. The bedroom is remarkable for its great low bed, overhung by a dais of gold-slashed silk supported by columns of lapis-lazuli, ; and in the miniature garden outside the windows are frisking monkeys, a cockatoo, prize cats, and expensive-looking dogs barking nt a bronze heron. Spineliy herself, looking like a Parisian from 1 the Orient, in a flowered kimono, vivifies the picture.

MINIATURE TRAIN IN COLLISION. One of the little trains that run through the Bois 3e Boulogne and bung so much joy to children—and even grown-ups—has come to grief, and its f.ged driver, Jean Poirieux, who was a great favourite with his young passengers, has lost his life. The little train ■was hurrying on its way through the wood on the journey from the Porte Maillet to the Zoo, and had reached the spot where- it emerges from the trees to cross the road. It usually announces its arrival with a shrill shriek, just like a real train, but whether it forgot or was not heard is not clear. A motorcar hit it, and the driver was so badly injured that he died later in. hospital Ilad it not been the luncheon hour the accident might have been ever more serious. . " STAR " WITH STAGE FRIGHT Mme. Yvette Guilbert, the star of twenty-five years ago, who recently shone out again with undiminished effulgence as the bill-topper of the new Empire Music Hall in Paris, has made a startling confession to «; Excelsior." the has had stage fright. Attired in nor tvpdiUonol Kilo green drees and Jong black gloves, she took the stage to give'

the audience selections from her. old repertoire. In her own words she went all " goosey," and her heart was going p:t-a-pat. There is nothing like stage fright unless it is sea sickness, she declares. The cause of it all was the knowledge that the youth of to-day is addicted to jazz and other forms of musical entertainment which she thought were opposed to straightforward- melodies, largely dependent on their success lor their clever words. Her fears' were groundless, and the enthusiasm" of the audience soon cured her stage fright. When the great divette set out to conquer Paris in 1892, she made" her "green dress with her own hands, every stitch of it. Now, coming back after years "of retirement, she is able to pay .160.franc ;i pair for her gloves. ■