Item 28 - Peter Elmsley to his sister-in-law [Mary Hallowell?]

Paris. Apologises for delay in writing, but the journey was long. Slept at Blossom's Inn, Lawrence Lane, (and hopes never again), at Brighton, then at Dieppe - description of route to Paris and of scenery. (Le) Havre centre of French West India trade and full of bustle. Rouen ugly but prosperous - to theatre in evening (as large as Covent Garden before it was rebuilt, for a town of 80-90,000 inhabitants). Countryside from Rouen to Paris ugly and ill-cultivated. Paris better to live in but worse to visit than he expected. Apparently staying temporarily with Barrois (with whome he travelled as far as Rouen) - he has an excellent house and a well-educated wife, who speaks English and understands Latin. The French are a cleanly people, but there is a general air of shabbiness, perhaps caused by the circumstances of the times - few gentlemen, and it is hard to distinguish an officer from a common soldier. Every shoe black has a mild and polite demeanour - one of the most striking things. Many streets have two names - pre- and post-revolutionary (e.g. Quai Voltaire where Barrois lives is also Quai des Theatins).