PARIS AND LONDON: A BUNDLE OF CONTRASTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9160, 15 September 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

PARIS AND LONDON: A BUNDLE OF CONTRASTS

Ik a, preface to a book the title of which is "Angloterre st France," M. Felix Pyab — who knows England well, having lived there as a political refugee for 30 years — has indictated, in an original and picturesque fashion, many points of dissidence between the social customs of the two nation". We quote the following from M. Pyat's work : — Paris is right-handed, London left-handed. The Parisian coachman keeps to the right, the London one to his left. The former is seated in front of the carriage, the latter behind. Paris is compact, London pcattered. The heart of Paris is the Hotel de Ville, that of London is the Bank. . . Paris has a girdle of fortifications and an octroi, London has neither wall nor town duties. Paris increases by absorption, London by expansion. Paris is built with stones, London with bricks. Paris has high houses and narrow streets, London wide streets and low houses. Houses in Paris have wic?e doors for carriages, in London the doors arc small. In fact, Paris has its doors larger than its windows, whilst London has its windows larger than its doors. Paris has espagnolette windows opening like doors, London guillotine windows. Paris has its shutters outside, London inside. Paris is collect ivest, London individualist. Paris dwells in masses inside barracks and convents ; London lives in private, a home for each family. Paris has its poriier (door-keeper), London its key. Paris has its public cafes, London its exclusive clubs. Paris sleeps in a bed placed alongside the wall, London in the middle of a room. Paris rises early, London lave. Paris pronounces cacao, London cocoa. . . . Paris is large, London enormous. Paris dines, London eats. Paris takes two meals a day, London four. ■ London, says Voltaire, has a hundred religions and one sauce ; Paris has a hundred sauces and one religion. London has a three-pronged fork, Paris a four-pronged one. Paris uses a napkin, London the table cloth. . . . . Paris eats corn, London drinks it. Paris eats boiled meat, London roasted. Paris eats fried potatoes, London boiled. Paris loaves are long, London loaves are square. Paris likes the whites of turnips, London the green. Paris serves oysters on the concave shell, London on the convex. Paris puts butter on its brioches, London on its breai. Paris drinks wine, London beer. Paris takes coffee, London tea. Paris at table is sociable, London isolated. Paris has tha table d'hote, London the diningroom box. Paris is gay, London is dull. Paris whips the horses, London flogs its criminals. Paris lounges, London goes. Paris makes laws during the day, London during the night. Paris has spring showers in -March, London in April. London has but few soldiers, Paris too many. In Paris the soldier is a power, in London a nonentity. The Paris soldier wears red trousers and a blue coat, the London soldier a red coat and blue trousers. The former is always armed, the latter carries only a short stick. The Paris soldier is a eonscript, the London soldier a volunteer. In Paris priests celebrate marriages, in London they themselves get married. In Paris girls are rigidly kepi, in London they are free. In Paris married women are free, in London they are not. Paris opens its museums on Sundays, London on week-days. In Paris churches are always open, in London they are nearly always closed. Paris has sedentary judges, London ambulatory. Paris has her milkmaids seated, London her milkmen with " rounds.' Paris warms herself with wood, London with coal. Paris buries her dead too soon, London too late. Paris throws her refuse into the street, London keeps it inside. Paris retains her sewage in the house, London throws it at once into the rival*. Paris has more mad people, London more idiots. Paris has more suicides, London more homicides. Paris is more of an artist, London more of a merchant. In Paris men are more lively than horses, in London horses are more frisky than men. Paris works, London traffics. London is religious, Paris humane. Paris is democratic, London aristocratic. Paris workmen call each other citizens, London workmen mechanics. The former work in their blouses, the latter in coats. Working Paris wears a casquette (a cap), working ■London a hat. Canaille Paris tights with the feet, a London mob with its fists. Working Paris calls the pawnbroker " my aunt," working London "my uncle.'" Working London says, like its Queen, " Dieu et mon Droit," "Rule Britannia," working Paris says, like the Republic, " Rights of Man, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."