OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 129, 4 June 1927, Page 17

OUR PARIS LETTER

HISTORICAL REVIVALS

MME. RECAMIER'S COUCH

(From "The Post's" , Representative.) PABIS, 6th Auril.

Historical revivals oi a social and artistic character are very much in favour at present, and one cannot help remarking the interest that- is being taken in functions which have a bearing on life and manners of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Following the opening of .the Louis XIV. exhibition at Bibliotheque Nationale, there were inaugurated at the Musec Carnavalet yesterday reproductions of a number of the most celebrated literary salons of Paris. Mme. de Sevigne occupies, of course, a distinguished place, as well as her daughter, Mme. do Grignan, but the organisers have had the happy idea of extending the period to Napoleonic times, thus permitting Mme. Eecamier to have her salon also. .All are, reproduced with a discerning regaTd for historic truth, the furniture, pictures, and works of art used being mostly authentic. One of tho pieces in the Mme. Eecamier collection, is the. couch on which she is' seen reclining in David's famous painting. .. ' ' .. ■ .-. ... .

BOMANCEAT THE ELYSEE.

France's- first citizen, aa eyerj; one knows, is a bachelor.. There are;'- however; it appears, certain, members of the gentler sex who think he must be lonely at the Elysee. One of these, a fair American, the "Paris Midi. tells us, wrote a letter—whether- bliishingly or unblushing]}- we do-not know—-offering her hand in marriage toM: Doumergue. She said: "lam thirty, young, intelligent, and very beautiful: (sic). I have refused the- greatest, namea of your aristocracy, but having learned of your celibacy, I have... decided .to ask .you •to marry me. I have a dot-of eleven millions, and enclose my portrait. Please reply as soon as possible." The "Paris Midi" tells us that on the receipt of the letter the President smiled, looked at the portrait, and,' alas, consigned the letter to the .Presidential' wastepaper basket, first tearing it into little pieces. ' . ... '. .'.. ' '

SUEPEISE FOR AN ARTIST.

.A curious action by a painter agaiiist a literary nian is down for hearing before the Third Chamber-of the Paris Court on Bth March. It appears from: the pleadings that in' 1914 the art ist, M. Camoin, dissatisfied with some of his own "pictures, cut them up and threw the pieces into the dustbin. They were ■ apparently rescued .by a ragpicker'and put together. Jn 1925, M. Camoin, hearing that some of his works wer<j included in a ,<ile of, pictures belonging to M. Francis Careo, went" to see them, and identified/them as the canvases he had himself tried to . destroy eleven years earlier. He took proceedings, and the'pictures were placed in the hands o£ an- official receiver. M. Camoin bow seeks to recover damages from the exhibition without his consent, of works which he regards as damaging to his reputation as an artist.

THE '' SWALLOWS. *

Spring is here, not only in: the world of Nature, but also in other spheres. There are, for • instance,. the landing stages of the river passenger steamers', whichj ,during the long winter months, have swung, sad and solitary, at their moorings. During the last" few days they have been showing signs of life, and one of them, at least, near the Chattelct, has blossomed out into a new coat of paint, all of which, of course, points to the approaching fact that the slick little boats will soon be at pur disposal again to carry us cither to Maisons-Alfort" or to Saint-Cloud. Then, too, there have been seen recently one or two big motor-coaches making somewhat shy suggestions regarding the pleasure of seeing Paris from ■ their roomy interiors. And this, too, reminds us that the tourists are. beginning to arrive. It is very evident, therefore, that spring is really coming.

THE PYTHON'a OPINION.

Anyway, tho new python at the Jardin dcs Plantes has no doubts' about tho season, ami has evidently made up its mind that the time for a new "costume" has arrived. Doffing its old. suit, however, seems to bo a somewhat formidable undertaking, for it has been engaged in the process during the past two or three days, and one.is informed that it will still be a matter of a day or two before ■it will bo prepared to receive company. When, however, the old skin is shuffled off Parisians will have an opportunity of seeing tho latest Zoo arrival. It is a monster about 27 feet long, and came all tho way 'from India. Tho weather on tho voyage was a little cold, and tho python has consequently been a littlo sleepy, but the warm reptile house is doing wonders. It will soon be quite lively and ready for its first snack, a mere matter of a good-sized lamb or perhaps . a goat, swallowed whole.

GASPARD IS NO MORE.

Gasjard, one of~the elephants at the Jardin d 'Acclimatisation in Paris, has given for several weeks' indications that his mental condition was not good. Ho broke the arm of !one of his keepers, ho injured a visitor. This week ho became so erratic that the keepers'decided to remove him. Acrobat, musician, and calculator,'• Gaspard' had become crazy. As executioners do for all criminals in their last hours, the. Zoo keepers humoured Gaspard. For breakfast, they gave him an extra ration and allowed him to play his harmonica. Then the cage was sealed, and asphyxiating gas admitted. Gaspard passed away peacefully, at the age of nineteen years. . '

HOTEL TROUSERS TRICE.

Wearing a closely-buttoned overcoat, which came down nearly to his ankles, and a^pair of immaculate spats, an aristocratic-looking.man who called himself the Vicomte de Callaric arrived at a Paris hotel and asked for a.wellwarmed room, explaining that he came from Africa and felt the cold. Still wearing his overcoat, he dined in. the restaurant and retired earVy. Next morning he rang the bell and demanded his trousers. They could no£ bo found. He sent for the manager, and complained bitterly, saying-be had left his purse in his trousers pocket, and was therefore placed in a position-embarrassing to a man of his rank. The manager sent to a shop for a selection of nether garments, and pacified the irate customer with the loan of a couple-of ..thousand franca. The "viscount" selected a pair of trousers, paid his bill, and went away. A few minutes later the manager remembered the closely-but-toned overcoat, and realised that he had been cleverly swindled.

MIDNIGHT CHOCOLATE.

In the eighteenth, century, women were fond of partaking of a "dish of Chocolate" after a.ball, or the theatre; and this delightful custom seems to- be reviving. So many caics have closed down during the last years that the chic tea shops which are springing up rapidly in the. centre of Paris find it pays them to keep opeii until a late or an early hour. And now, instead of going to a restaurant for supper, shingled beauty and her cavalier often enter a tea shop arid there, in dainty surroundings, forget the fatigue of the Charleston in a deliciouß cup of choeo.late and, the inevitable brioche.