The servants seem to
have caught the spirit of the place, and there is one old servitor,
still, I trust, alive, who might have been the model for all the
faithful old servants in the plays of the Comedie Francaise. The house
is kept by an old lady; the cook is a man. Several people of my
acquaintance choose Avignon as their halting-place on their way to the
Riviera because of the quaintness of the old hotel and of the excellence
of its cuisine. A breakfast on the Isle de Barthelasse, when the mistral
is not blowing, is one of the holiday treats of the inhabitants of the
town. At Remoulins the old Ledenon wine at the one hotel in the place is
worth a note. At St-Remy, M. Teston, who keeps the hotel named after
him, is an excellent cook. At Nimes, at the Hotel du Cheval Blanc, there
used to be some excellent old Armagnac brandy, and probably some of it
still remains.
"Cure" Places
Most of the French cure places are for invalids and invalids only, and
the gourmet who goes to them has to lay aside his critical faculties and
to be content with the simplest fare, well or indifferently cooked,
according to his choice of an hotel.
Aix-les-Bains
The big Savoy town of baths is the principal exception to the rule, for
the baccarat in the two Casinos draws all the big gamblers in Europe to
the place, and one half of Aix-les-Bains goes to bed about the time that
the other half is being carried in rough sedan chairs to be parboiled
and massaged.
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