Monday 28th July 1834

Up at 7 – & breakfasted in salle à manger, no other company being in the house, walked into town, some of streets wery [very] narrow, but the principal one large long & wide – went to Booksellers shop – bought prints of Savoy – read part of book giving advice to young people Ladies; “always to seek friends & company of their own sex – & not to let their conversations with the other be too long or too frequent. she who courts danger is sure to perish by it, an example given of the fatal effects of this -” gained advice & directions about going to Aix – went to Hotel de la Poste to enquire about carriages, engaged a char to go this afternoon to Bout du mond [Bout du Monde], & a Phaeton for tomorrow to Aix &c. – saw the rooms, smaller than at the Parfaite Union – but newly done up & a salon to each apartment (en suite). walked to Charmette, by the way eat Green gages formerly the residence of Madame de Varens [Warens], & [word crossed out] Rousseau, a bed chair is the only remnant of Rousseau’s furniture, a portrait of him in one of the rooms; a beautiful view of the town of Chambery & the country from Madame de Varen’s [Warens’] apartment very small garden – returned by Terrace on which Rousseau used to walk – he was of very low origin, said to be the son of a watchmaker at Geneva, & came to Charmette, to be Madame de Varens servant – lovely view in descending to the town – got some poulet at the hotel, & then set off to le bout du mond [Le Bout du Monde] – scenery of the mountains, along road very beautiful, really appears the end of the world, a sort of Basin surrounded by an immense rock, which bounds any further view, out of which issues a considerable cascade, & several smaller ones, the large one freezes like all others in winter, but the water of two of the smaller ones, is quite cold in summer but perfectly hot in winter – no person has yet accounted for this phenomenon – these cascades supply a paper mill close by – saw there process – rags are first sorted, then put into an immense boiler which washes & condenses rings! [wrings] them then put into another boiler which reduces them to pulp – this pulp is reduced to a yet finer state in a third out of which it is into which they dip wire trays, on which the liquid consolidates sufficiently to be turned on to a piece of coarse woollen cloth, when all the cloths are filled they are placed in large presses – bought some of the paper – saw what is called coal in this country, but it appeared (tho’ dug out of the earth) more like burnt wood than anything else, & broken in pieces as easily: as we returned stopped at Monsieur Barin’s [Burdin’s] public garden – Dearest spoke about boy & said we would go next day on wednesday – just as we got back to the Inn, a violent thunderstorm, 8 o’clock, dined, & went to bed –

Courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale WYC:1525/7/1/5/1/19 & WYC:1525/7/1/5/1/20

[up at] 9

[to bed at] 11 55/..

no kiss fine morning Fahrenheit 70° at 10 a.m. breakfast at 10 20/.. to 11 1/4 – had ordered and waited for calêche – so old looking and dirty, would not have it, and Adney and I went out on foot – peeped into the cathedral – the interior undergoing repair – not either very large or handsome building, and the interior painted in fresco imitation of gothic ornament – very bad taste – tho’ the deep blue roof with gold stars and fresco groining looked well enough – then to a booksellers in the Place St. Leger – fortunately stumbled upon the best, Puthod above an hour there and bought several works – particularly the 1st 5 numbers at 3/. (15 more to come) off Vúes de la Savoy … suivies d’un précis historique et descriptif published here by Courtois et Aubert Lithographes – gave my address and desired the other numbers to be sent to me aux soins de Messrs. Laffitte, Paris – whom I would direct to pay for them – the female person in the shop very civil – gave us directions what to see – sent her servant with us to La poste for a carriage – a little char 6/. a day, and should only be 3/. for this afternoon – but the mâitre de poste ask[ed] 6/. for this afternoon and 18/. a day for a calêche and pair – at last bargained for the latter to take me to Aix and the char for 22/. – saw the rooms – smelt strong of new papering and plastering and beds at 3/. and noisy, bustling place – very glad we were not there, and quite contented with La parfait union – from 2 10/.. to 4, walked to Les Charmettes where Rousseau and Madame de Warens lived, and some time there – nothing but nonsense in the Livre des Etrangers, so declined writing even our names – went one way and returned another – we were near 1/2 hour going from La Poste – fine view of the town in returning – nice, clean, well-built, good looking town, not very large – in going had bought 18 good green gages for a sol – came home for 1/2 hour for Adney to have her cold fowl, and off in the char at 4 1/2 – passed thro’ the little village of Aisse /Saint-Alban-Leysse/, and at the paper manufactory au bout du monde at 5 10/.. – one of the workmen shewed us the cascade (50 to 100 yards off at the back of the building) – not much water now, but still very picturesque and pretty – the water (the Doria) falls from a fine cleft in the high limestone rock – on each side are little springs gushing from the rock which springs the man said were cold in summer and hot in winter – the strata of the rock are here at the cascade, and more particularly a little lower down and turning up along the little river Aisse /Leysse/ now all but dry (which falls into the Doria at the mill in time to swell the stream and turn the wheel) very singular – look exactly like a wall of stones about a foot long and 6 inches in the bed – and this stratification extends too some little way down the Doria – the man shewed us, too, the process of paper making and we bought nice soft papier gris (at sols the pound) 64 sheets for 1 franc – the man said times were much better (le commerce allait beaucoup mieux) du temps des Français – now, he, whose work begins at midnight for 11 hours every night, and always in water had 44 francs a month about 30 sols a day, the wages of the best workmen – and the others had, all of them from 34 up to 44/. a month – the women had 12 sols a day – but they have each a room in the building that I suppose they live rent-free – the paper that sold du temps de Napoleon for 40/., and was no sooner made than sold, now hangs on hand and sells for 18/. or 20/. – asked if the King had been at Chambery – yes! at the paper manufactory I said he was très bon – bon enfant – no! said the man the manufactory had always given him something but he had never given anything in return – things could not go on in this way – an hour at the cascade and in the manufactory – returned another way, by Alby, but had unluckily left at home Madame Puthod’s paper so forgot to St. Saturnin en passant – the cocher, however, stopt at the great nursery garden, and we staid an hour there, and ordered a collection of roses to take back with us! thought this would be a nice place to send to little John to – spoke to the man about it – he seemed to have no objection – will see him again and have more information as to terms – the boy should be aetatis 14 – these people have an establishment at Lyons and Grenoble and Turin – are chiefly famous for roses, dahlias and [blank] of which they have every variety – the young man makes excursions to the mountains – has a herbary of above 6000 plants – to go there and see this at 10 a.m. on Wednesday – drove round the place, and promenade de Verny [Verney], and home at 8 1/4 – dinner at 8 1/2 – very fine day Fahrenheit 71 1/2° at 11 1/4 p.m. – too much dinner – very hot – asleep in my chair after Eugenie left me till near 11 –

Courtesy of West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale SH:7/ML/E/17/0064 & SH:7/ML/E/17/0065