PALACE OF SAINT-CLOUD, _August 20, 1866_.
DEAR FRIEND: I received your letter last night. I thank you for your
congratulations.[35] The thing astonished me as much as you. I say to
myself, like the _Cocu_ imaginaire: Does one’s leg become more crooked,
after all, or one’s shape less beautiful?
I beg your pardon for quoting lines from a play which you have not read
because of its title.
You take a singular route to go to your friends in the land of the
sea-monsters, but if you can have a little sunshine you will experience
much pleasure in seeing the banks of the Loire. There is nothing in all
France more typically French, and what is seen there, besides, can be
found nowhere else. I recommend to you especially the Château of Blois,
which has been well restored in the last few years. See, for my sake,
the new church of Tours, restored. It is on the Rue Royale, on the right
side coming from the station; I have forgotten the name of it. See
also, in Tours, a house which is called, improperly, the House of the
Executioner, and which is attributed to Tristan the Hermit, because of a
sculptured girdle, the emblem of a widow, and which the ignorant take
for a hangman’s rope. It is on the street of the Three Virgins, another
distressing name.
We are having deplorable weather. Yesterday I took a long drive, and we
were surprised by a terrific storm, which soaked me to the bones and
gave me new cold. The water accumulated on the cushions, so that it was
like being in a bath-tub. I think I shall be in Paris the last few days
of this month, and set out again for Biarritz the beginning of
September. Will you not come there when you leave the banks of the
Loire?...
The emperor has entirely recovered and has resumed his usual
occupations. We spend the days comfortably enough, considering the
horrible weather, and without any formality. We dine in frock-coats, and
every one does pretty much as he pleases.
I have received from Russia an enormous history of Peter the Great,
compiled from a quantity of official documents, hitherto unpublished. I
read and I paint whenever we are not walking or eating.
It seems to me that everything tends in the direction of peace. It is
very evident that M. de Bismarck is a great man, and he is too well
prepared for any one to quarrel with him. We shall have, perhaps, many
bitter pills to swallow, and these we shall digest until we have
needle-guns. It remains to be seen what the German parliament will do,
and, if the follies which they commit will not cause them to lose their
advantage. As for Italy, it is never even mentioned. Good-bye dear
friend.