" The Christian name deems to be the most
important one in France, and still more especially in Italy.
We arrived at Avignon, Hotel de l'Europe, in the dusk of the
evening. . . . . The lassitude of Rome still clings to us, and I, at
least, feel no spring of life or activity, whether at morn or eve. In
the morning we found ourselves very pleasantly situated as regards
lodgings. The gallery of our suite of rooms looks down as usual into an
enclosed court, three sides of which are formed by the stone house and
its two wings, and the third by a high wall, with a gateway of iron
between two lofty stone pillars, which, for their capitals, have great
stone vases, with grass growing in them, and hanging over the brim.
There is a large plane-tree in one corner of the court, and creeping
plants clamber up trellises; and there are pots of flowers and
bird-cages, all of which give a very fresh and cheerful aspect to the
enclosure. The court is paved with small round stones; the omnibus
belonging to the hotel, and all the carriages of guests drive into it;
and the wide arch of the stable-door opens under the central part of
the house.
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