added to my chagrin, when we arrived at the inn, all the beds
were occupied; so that we were obliged to sit in a cold kitchen
above two hours, until some of the lodgers should get up. This
was such a bad specimen of French accommodation, that my wife
could not help regretting even the inns of Rochester,
Sittingbourn, and Canterbury: bad as they are, they certainly
have the advantage, when compared with the execrable auberges of
this country, where one finds nothing but dirt and imposition.
One would imagine the French were still at war with the English,
for they pillage them without mercy.

Among the strangers at this inn where we lodged, there was a
gentleman of the faculty, just returned from Italy. Understanding
that I intended to winter in the South of France, on account of a
pulmonic disorder, he strongly recommended the climate of Nice in
Provence, which, indeed, I had often heard extolled; and I am
almost resolved to go thither, not only for the sake of the air,
but also for its situation on the Mediterranean, where I can have
the benefit of bathing; and from whence there is a short cut by
sea to Italy, should I find it necessary to try the air of
Naples.

After having been ill accommodated three days at our inn, we have
at last found commodious lodgings, by means of Mrs. B-, a very
agreeable French lady, to whom we were recommended by her
husband, who is my countryman, and at present resident in London.
For three guineas a month we have the greatest part of a house
tolerably furnished; four bed-chambers on the first floor, a
large parlour below, a kitchen, and the use of a cellar.