When our courier asked for the bill this morning,
the landlady declared she “knew not what to
charge, that she never was in the habit of making
out bills, and that we must give her what we thought
right.”
The courier urged the necessity of having a regular
bill, explaining to her that he was obliged to file
all bills, and produce them every week for the arrangement
of his accounts,—but in vain: she could
not, she declared, make one out; and no one in her
house was more expert than herself.
She came to us, laughing and protesting, and ended
by saying, “Pay what you like; things are very
cheap at Arles. You have eaten very little; really,
it is not worth charging for.” But, when
we persisted on having her at least name a sum, to
our infinite surprise she asked, if a couple of louis
would be too much?—And this for a party
of six, and six servants, for two days!
We had some difficulty in inducing her to accept a
suitable indemnification, and parted, leaving her
proclaiming what she was pleased to consider our excessive
generosity, and reiterating her good wishes.
ST.-REMY.
The town of St.-Remy is delightfully situated in a
hollow that resembles the crater of an extinct volcano,
and is surrounded by luxuriant groves of olive.
The streets, though generally narrow, are rendered
picturesque by several old houses, the architecture
of which is striking; and the place—for
even St.-Remy has its Place Publique and Hotel-de-Ville—is
not without pretensions to ornament. In the centre
of this place is a pretty fountain, of a pyramidal
form.
The antiquities which attracted us to St.-Remy are
at a short distance from the town, on an eminence
to the south of it, and are approached by a road worthy
the objects to which it conducts. They consist
of a triumphal arch, and a mausoleum, about forty-five
feet asunder.
Of the triumphal arch, all above the archivault has
disappeared, leaving but the portico, the proportions
of which are neither lofty nor wide. On each
side of it are two fluted columns, said to have been
of the Corinthian order, but without capitals, and
the intercolumniations, in each of which are figures
of male and female captives.
A tree divides the male from the female; their hands
are tied, and chained to the tree; and a graceful
drapery falls from above the heads down to the consoles
on which the figures stand.
On the eastern side of the arch are also figures,
representing two women, by the side of two men.
One of the women has her hand on the arm of a chained
warrior, and the other has at her feet military trophies;
among which bucklers, arms, and trumpets, may be seen.
The pilasters that bound the intercolumniations are
of the Doric order, and their capitals support the
arch.
The cornice and astragals form a frieze, in which
military emblems and symbols of sacrifice are intermingled.
The archivault is ornamented on each side with sculptured
wreaths of ivy, pine cones, branches of grapes and
olives, interlaced with ribands. The ceiling of
the portico is divided into hexagons and squares,
enriched by various designs in the shape of eggs and
roses, finely executed.
