I don't know if the exposition was
a financial success--I should think probably not. A great deal of money
came into France (but the French spent enormously in their preparations)
but the moral effect was certainly good--all the world flocked to Paris.
Cabs and river steamers did a flourishing business, as did all the
restaurants and cafes in the suburbs. St. Cloud, Meudon, Versailles,
Robinson, were crowded every night with people who were thirsting for
air and food after long hot days in the dust and struggles of the
exposition. We dined there once or twice, but it was certainly neither
pleasant nor comfortable--even in the most expensive restaurants. They
were all overcrowded, very bad service, badly lighted, and generally bad
food. There were various national repasts--Russian, Italian, etc.--but I
never participated in any of those, except once at the American
restaurant, where I had a very good breakfast one morning, with
delicious waffles made by a negro cook. I was rather glad when the
exhibition was over. One had a feeling that one ought to see as much as
possible, and there were some beautiful things, but it was most
fatiguing struggling through the crowd, and we invariably lost the
carriage and found ourselves at the wrong entrance, and had to wait
hours for a cab.
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