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The houfes are built of hewn (tone intirely, or whited over with plainer: fome in-deed in the beginning of this age are of brick with free-done, as the Place-Royal,Place-Dauphin, &c. but that is wholly left off now; and the white plaifter is in fomefew places only coloured after the falhion of brick, as part of the abbay of St. Germain.The' houfes every where are high and ftately ; the churches numerous, but not verybig ; the towers and Iteeples are but few in proportion to the churches, yet that nobleway of ffeeple, the domes or cupolas, have a marvellous efFedt in profpect ; thoughthey are not many, as that of Val de Grace, des Invalides, College Mazarin , de1 * Alfumption, the Grand Jefuits, la Sorbonne, and fome few others.
All the houfes of perfons of didindtion are built with porte-cocheres, that is, widegates to drive in a coach, and confequently have courts within ; and modly remilesto fet them up. There are reckoned above 700 of thefe great gates; and very manyof thefe are after the moft noble patterns of ancient architefture.
The lower windows of all houfes are grated w’ith drong bars of iron ; which mud bea vad expcnce.
As the houfes are magnificent without, fo the finidiing withinfide and furniture an-fwer in riches and neatnefs ; as hangings of rich tapedry, raifed with gold and filverthreads, crimfon damafk and velvet beds or of gold and filver tifiue. Cabinets andbureaus of ivory inlaid with tortoifefhelj, and gold and filver plates in a too differentmanners : branches and candledicks of crydal : but above all mod rare pictures.The gildings, carvings and paintings of the roofs are admirable.
Thefe things are in this city and the country about, to fuch a variety and excefs,that you can come into no private houfe of any man of fubdance, but you fee fome-thing of them ; and they are obferved frequently to ruin themfelves in thefe expences.Every one, that has any thing to fpare, covets to have fome good pidlure or fculp-ture of the bed artid ; the like in the ornaments of their Gardens, fo that it is incredi-ble what pleafure that vad quantity of fine things give the curious dranger. Here a&-foon as ever a man gets, any thing by fortune or inheritance, he lays it out in fome fuchway as now named.
Yet, after all, many utenfils and conveniencies of life are wanting here, which w'ein England have. This makes me remember what Monlieur Judell, a Parifian for-merly, told me here, that he had made a catalogue of near threefcore things of thisnature which they wanted in Paris .
The pavements of the dreets is all of fquare done, of about eight or ten inchesthick ; that is, as deep in the ground as they are broad at top ; the gutters diallow',and kid round without edges, which makes the coaches glide eafily over them.
However, it mud needs be faid, the dreets are very narrow, and the paffengersa-foot no ways fecured from the hurry and danger of coaches, which always pallingthe dreets with an air of hade, and a full trot upon broad flat flones, betwixt high andlarge refounding houfes, makes a fort of mufic which fhould feem very agreeable tothe Parifians.
The royal palaces are furprifingly Aately; as the Louvre and Tnilleries, PalaisLuxembourg, Palais Royal .
The eonvents are great, and numerous, and well built; as Yal de Grace, St. Ger-mains, St. Vidfor, St. Genevieve, the Grand Jefuits, &c.
The fquares are few in Paris , but very beautiful; as the Place Royal, Place Vic-tior, Place Dauphine, none of the larged, except the Places Vendofme, not yet finifhed.
The gardens within the walls, open to the public, are vadly great, and very beau-tiful ; as the Tuilleriesj Palais Royal, Luxembourg , the Royal Phyfic Garden, of the
arfenal,