long stay, we drove straight from the station to the well-known
Maison Colbert, and were soon as comfortable as we could wish.
There are many people we are aware who detest "pensions." "We don't
approve," say they, "of meals at fixed hours, of a drawing-room
common to all, and of such a small house that everybody must know
everyone else before the first dinner is over!" Well! why should
they? They can go to the hotels; but let all those who are
suffering or delicate put away thin-skinned feelings of
superiority, till they have a good enough constitution to support
them, and in the meantime seek peace and kindness, such as may be
experienced at the Pension Colbert.

If, on the other hand, it can be taken as a criterion that those
living in hotels are not invalids, then the visitor contingent of
Pau must consist principally of healthy people, who prefer a good
climate and lively society to the attractions that England and
America have to offer from October to May. This is hardly correct,
but there can be no doubt that more than half the foreigners
[Footnote: From the French standpoint--i.e., English and American.]
who come for that period, do so for comfort and pleasure alone. And
it is not to be wondered at. Who, that was untrammelled by the
cares of business, or shortened purse-strings, but would not gladly
exchange the bill of fare England has to offer, of London fogs,
east winds, Scotch mists, and Irish dynamite, for the handsome menu
awaiting him at Pau? Drives, kettledrums, dinners, balls, lawn
tennis, polo, pigeon-shooting, golf, racing and hunting; and, if he
particularly wishes it, a balloon ascent as well. This last-named
is an expensive pleasure, as the aeronaut, judging by the prices on
the bill, requires a substantial fee, and it is besides an
amusement life insurance companies do not readily countenance.