Montmartre, where the British flag is flying, and in the Champs Elysées and
Bois de Boulogne are encamped several brigades of English and Hanoverians.
The Sovereigns of Russia, Austria and Prussia are expected and then it is
said that the fate of France will be decided. The Army of the Loire has at
length made its submission to the King, after stipulating but in vain for
the beloved tricolor. Report says it is to be immediately dissolved and a
new army raised with more legitimate inclinations. Should the King accede
to this, France will be completely disarmed and at the mercy of the Allies,
and the King himself a state prisoner. The entrance into Paris, thro' the
Faubourg St Denis, does not give to the stranger who arrives there for the
first time a great idea of the magnificence of Paris; he should enter by
the Avenue de Neuilly or by the Porte St Antoine, both of which are very
striking and superb.

Now you must not expect that I shall or can give you a description of all
the fine things that I have seen or am about to see, for they have been so
often described before that it would be a perfect waste of time, and I can
do better in referring you at once to the _Guide des Voyageurs à Paris_; so
that I shall content myself with merely indicating these objects which make
the most impression on me.

My first visit was, as you will have no doubt guessed, to the Palais Royal:
there I breakfasted, there I dined, and there I passed the whole day
without the least _ennui_. It is a world in itself. It swarms at present
with officers of the Allied army. The variety of uniforms adds to the
splendour and novelty of the scene. The restaurants and cafés are filled
with them. The Palais Royal is certainly the temple of animal
gratification, the paradise of gastronomes. The officers are indulging in
all sorts of luxury, revelling in Champaign and Burgundy, in all the
pleasures of the belly, as well as _in iis quae sub ventre sunt_. 'Twill be