Pau, Basses Pyrenees, France October 2nd 1863

Pau, Basses Pyrenees, October 2nd 1863
We left Brussels September 15 with feelings of joy and sorrow. We had passed very nearly 18 months in this handsome and remarkably clean capital which for comfort and cheapness stands unrivaled amoungst the large cities of Europe. Were it not for the severity of its climate, which with my disease might have proved fatal to me I would never have asked better, whilst in Europe, than to remain in our comfortable handsome house No 3 Rue d ’Arlon Quartier Lu ‘ opold. We had 3 bed rooms Studies, Pantries, kitchen, eaves, servant rooms and a small garden, the house furnished handsomely throughout, and for all this we gave 300 francs, 60 ? a month. There was not a great deal to interest us on our route to Paris. We again passed Mons & Hal, a town celebrated for a miraculous Virgin who, they say draws votaries from all the climes of Europe, once a year, for the benefit of Hal and the priests. The one who sheds her tears laugh’s or sneezes for her, ought certainly to receive the lions share of the show. Under so enlightened a king one can scarely believe his subjects still grope in such darkness. There is a party in Belgium, calling itself the “Liberal” one, which has made a few steps in advance, and would perhaps, had it the power reform the many unconcealed viles existing in the church. The people are afraid of change, and the leaders themselves have not the boldness to renounce a faith they hold in contempt and never follow. My physician, (one of them for I have had no less than 4 and I thank my stars that the one whose confession I am about to give, Dr. Geens by name, is no longer amongst them) himself told me, “Madame, I believe in God and a pure religion but not in the tricks of the priests. They have often taken away my servant girls, because they confessed I never went to mass.” “Why Dr” I asked “do you not become a protestant.” “Le vou drais bien” he replied, “but what can I do. I was born in this faith, my wife will have the children christened in it, and again, ”chacur a’peur.” So it is they are afraid. He doubtless thinks his patients would dread his poisoning them were he suspected of heresy. The minister trembles for his place, the lawyer for his fees, and so they live on, choosing rather the servise of Mammon, than that of God. Valenciennes is near our route but not on it. The lace that bears its name is made chiefly in Brussels. We passed St. Quentin, and many other towns, amongst them Campiegne where the Emperor spends part of the hunting season. Stopped at the hotel Meurice which we were delighted to leave on Thursday the 17th. The “Grand Hotel” on Paris has thrown all the others in the shade. After consulting Baron Louis, we proceeded under his advice to Pau. Our first stoppage was at Luvidg near where Pa and Willie formerly lived. Orleans, on the Loire, where Joan of Arc immortalized herself, Chatellerault, where an English ambassador said the only good steel in France could be found. Poitiers where the Black Prince defeated Charles 7th, Angoulime which we passed under a tunnel, all came in their turn before we reached Bordeaux. We passed the night here and drove along the Quaz the next morning to the depot. Bordeaux is the second seaport of France; it is situated on the Garconne a very large river.
What a quantity of grapes! They are piled up in heaps! The Landes lie on the road to Pau. It is a large track of uncultivated land where pine trees abound. The men and women walk on stilts tied to their feet in order to find their flocks of sheep.
We saw turkeys on the way; at one of the buffets, Willie bought me a plate of figs, the first I had seen in Europe.
Part of our troubles are over; we are at Pau.