OUR PARIS LETTER

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 77, 27 September 1929, Page 3

OUR PARIS LETTER

THE FLOWER SHOW

CHARMING EFFECTS

(From "Tho Post's" Represbritative.)

, One of the prettiest effects at the Flower Show this summer stands outside instead of inside thehall on the Cours-la-Beine. It is a wide portico which looks as though it were made of brown clay, and is covered with masses of .climbing, rod roses; on. either Bido a fountain :is placed, their single jets of sparkling water falling into : a pool. Beneath the deep blue of yesterday's, sky, and in the hot sun, tho portico looked as.though it were in the South, of Franco instead of in. Paris. 'The exhibits inside are more - simply arranged than they were last year, but they are none the • less- beautiful for. that. The first; thing to be seen is a garden with a large:porch at the end. This is painted in bright yellow, relieved by the - brilliant crimson of roses! and with rows of stiff blue hortensias standing sentinel-like 'on "either side of a atrip of intensely blue water. Such colour-schemes ' are noticeable in the exhibition'this spring,' for ,in another formal garden the path, is laid down in .irregular squares of crude, red, yellow, and blue, separated'by strips of black. The . effect is. extremely good, and beneath a hot Riviera sunj for example, would: be striking: -

AN lEONICAL TOXTCH.

Roses, of: course, take a prominent part in the .exhibition,: but. there aTe some magnificent irises in' varying colours and two beds of azaleas, in tints which shade- from old gold to a wonderful red. The most: vivid .touch of colour, however, is given by the centre bed, which is crammed full of the humbler sort of flowers in such fragrant array as to. prove ,to everyone Who sets eyes on it that it does not need elaboration of costly blooms to make a lovely garden. The sight of twoi.pretty girls sitting in an arbour, one in • a wide crinoline of pale pink taffeta with a huge bonnet; hiding her golden hair, and the other'in blue representing Miss 1929, is as pretty a touch as the. wedding party which is the piece do resistance of tho Salon. The magnificence ■of the bridal flowers and the beautif unwarranted. breakfast tablo nearby brought crowds to see-it. But was it an oversight or subtle irony on the part of the organisers to arrange opposite the, room '■ where the happy couple stood a magnificent exhibit: of funeral- wreaths ? \"y''r '■■■;■■.. - [ .-■•

CHINESE OIEL JUGOLEE.

The well-known cafes in "the Latin Quarter now are . a '; happy hunting ground in the evening for all kinds of curious characters of all nationalities, who-try to earn a few sous by enterta^ninS; the crowds sitting on the terraces who watch. them with mildly amused eyes. There'was no: amusement, however, mild ;or otherwise,' in the. gaze of •a- small group of tourists who were sitting in a cafe there the ■other night regarding the" movements of a young Chinese girl. She had suddenly appeared: and taken :a position close to their table/balancing herself upon, tiny bound feet, her yellow face perfectly expressionless beneath- : a straight fringe, and. her long braid of hair dangling down. her back. Suddenly, and without a word she whipped out four or five'bright steel knives and began to make them describe patterns m the air,•-bufii so. close, to the heads of the spectators at/the table that they were rigid with apprehension-. - -Still the ?S^.?s^ent i ,ottjwhirling, i an^.wlieh at ia.s.t-1 the girl .:turnea ' away'- a-faint gleam of amusementjpassing over her face, the gasps of relief. from the tourists were audible.::: -;■' .k '-.■•■■

MAYOL'SEXIT.

_ Mayoly the well-known'Paris;•'.niusie-hall; singer, whose approaching " retirement was "announced last; year, has definitely ."made! his exit." He has: sung his last: song in" public at Bobiiio, in' the Montparnasse district, in which he made his .debut .over thirty years. ago and he is- now.-free to; enjoy his ease in his villa.on'the sunny shorea of the Mediterranean. •: .Everyone.rin'- 'Paris knows Mayol, with, his tuft of' blond hair in the.middle, of his.forehead and the bunch' of lilies-of-the-vaney in his buttonhole. V: He has had inahy imitators, rarely successful, in. his own genre —the sentimental song with a saving touch of humour, which is not easy-to' write and still less easy to sing effectively. -He takes wia him the 'gratitude and- respect of a very largo circle, tor he has never rbeen/\known to turn a deaf ear to a tale of distress or to spare.himself when anything iad to be done fqr the sick and bounded soldiers of to country during- and: after the Great War. -; -::.-- ;■:...-. ■.

BEJANE'S I^TIEES,

There will be: brought back visions and a breath of the latter part of last century at the Hotel dcs Ventea on 4th July, when there takes place the isale of >a collection of, letters which-be-[longed-to Mme. Eejano and-.M. Porel 1 the famous actress ana actor. Some ,of the writers of the missives are still : all!" e >; ai? ong them *eing; ci'Annunzio and M. de Porto-Biche, but the collection letters. ; from Alphonse Daudet, ; Henri Becque, Maurieo Barr.es, Anatole France, Dumas fils, Paul Deschanel, Saint-Saens, and Sarah Bernhardt. Some of .the compliments paid to Eejane are.rich 'in their 'sincere tone, as,^ for instance,.M. de PortoRiches as a woman ■ and an artist you are an exceptional being, you are f"a.°;[7 ed."K'ith K£e, a rare thing among the Jiving." There is.a letter front barah^Bernhardt to her suggesting that there haa been a shadow between them. I thought you were iU-disposei towards, me, and it:really 'hurt mp. There are so many people- ,around us who like to embroil people made ito understand each.: other,": wrote Sarah

MONOCLED TAXI-DBIVER.

Since- the introduction of. the newest taxicabs.to the streets of Paris, most of the drivers have made extraordinary efforts to smarten .their appearance. Tho result is that it is quite- possible nowadays to mistake a car plying for hire for a private , limousine. One of the. most recent arrivals on ibe road is the magnificent tasicab driven by a well-dressed chauffeur with a monocle who^parks his vehicle somewhere along the Grande Boulevards. No one knows what that monocle is worth to him' in tips, for.it is manifestly impossible for a client: to-offer a few paltry sous to the aristocratic-looking driver, who with his highly polished'- eyeglass" glittering m the sun, is leaning negligently back in his seat. ..