architecture,--a basement story, very pretty and simple, and upper
stories ornamented with Corinthian pilasters and gilded balconies.
There are high, pointed roofs with pretty luthern windows. The Place
is four hundred and twenty feet by four hundred and fifty. Two large
handsome streets, opposite to each other, the Rue de la Paix, and
the Rue Castiglione, open out of the Place; these alone break the
range of handsome buildings that surround this beautiful spot. In
the centre is the magnificent column, made in imitation of the
column of Trajan, and surmounted by a bronze statue of Napoleon in
his military dress. At first he was placed there in his imperial
robes; but when he fell, so did his statue, and it was melted up to
help make an equestrian statue of Henry IV. In 1833, the present
statue was erected; and the people are very proud of the Little
Corporal, as they call him, as he stands up there, looking over
their glorious city, as if born to lead men to conquest, and to
govern the world. Inside the column is a spiral staircase by which
you ascend to the top of the column. You are well paid for the
fatigue of mounting these one hundred and seventy-six steps, when
you get your breath and look down upon Paris glittering in the
sunlight. What pleases me most, however, is the scene immediately
below. All the people are in the streets. Sunday in Paris is a
holiday. Whole families leave work, care,--all their troubles,--and
come into the public places to enjoy themselves. There is no
swearing, no drunkenness, no rudeness, no noise; the old folks seats
themselves in chairs, and the children run about. Some have been to
mass, and some have not, but all are in the spirit of enjoyment.
Nothing can be more enlivening than the aspect of the French people.
You cannot resist their cheerful looks. The appearance of the Place
Vendome is truly enchanting.