CHAPTER XI
AN EXCURSION TO VERSAILLES
One evening, as our party sat in the drawing-room of the hotel, afterdinner, some callers' cards were brought to them. The guests proved tobe Bert Chester and his three friends, of whom he had told Pattybefore. The four young men were about to start on a motor tour, andwere spending a few days in Paris first.
They were all big stalwart young Englishmen, and when Bert introducedPaul and Philip Marchbanks and Arthur Oram, Patty thought she had neverseen more pleasant-looking boys.
"We're jolly glad to be allowed to come to see you," said PhilMarchbanks, addressing Mrs. Farrington, but including them all in hisconversation; "we know almost nobody in Paris, and we're so glad to seesome friendly faces."
"We may as well own up," said his brother Paul, "that we're just a bithomesick. We're going to have a fine time, of course, after we getstarted, but it takes a few days to get used to it."
It amused Patty to think of these great, big boys being homesick, butshe rather liked their frank admission of it, and she began to ask themquestions about their automobile.
The boys had no chauffeur with them, and Arthur Oram drove the car,with occasional assistance from the others. Of course, the boys wereenthusiastic regarding their car, and young Oram particularly fell intodiscussions with Mr. Farrington as to the respective merits of variousmakes.
"We've done up Paris pretty well," said Bert Chester; "we've only beenarrested for speeding once; but that's not surprising, for they let yougo about as fast as you like here, and with their marvellously fineroads, it's more like skating than anything else."
"But you only arrived here when we did," said Elise; "how can you havedone up Paris so soon?"
"Well, you see," said Bert, "we're not going to write a book about it,so we didn't have to take it all in. We've seen the outside of theLouvre, and the inside of Napoleon's tomb; we've been to the top of theEiffel tower, and the bottom of the Catacombs; so we flatter ourselvesthat we've done up the length and breadth and height and depths,--atleast to our own satisfaction."
"It's a great mistake," said Phil Marchbanks, "to overdo thissightseeing business. A little goes a great way with me, and if I bolta whole lot of sights all at once, I find I can't digest them, and Ihave a sort of attack of tourist's indigestion, which is a thing Ihate."
"So do I," agreed Patty, "and I think you do quite right not to attempttoo much in a short time. We are taking the winter for it, and Mr.Farrington is going to arrange it all for us, so that I know we'llnever have too much or too little. How much longer are you stayinghere?"
"Only a few days," replied Bert Chester, "and that brings me to ourspecial errand. We thought perhaps--that is, we hoped that may be youmight, all of you, agree to go with us to-morrow on a sort of a picnicexcursion to Versailles. We thought, do you see, that we could take ourcar, and you could take yours, and we'd start in the morning and make awhole day of it."
"Gorgeous!" exclaimed Patty, clapping her hands; "I do think that wouldbe delightful, I'd love to go."
"Me too," chimed in Elise; "mother, do say yes, won't you? You knowyou're just as anxious to go there as we are, because you spoke of itonly yesterday."
"Yes, indeed," said Mrs. Farrington heartily; "I quite approve of theplan, and if your father has no objection, we can make a charmingpicnic of it."
Mr. Farrington was quite as interested in the project as the others,and they immediately began to arrange the details of the expedition.Bert Chester had a road map in his pocket, which showed exactly theroutes they could take, but the decision of these things was left toMr. Farrington and Arthur Oram, who put their heads together over thecomplicated-looking charts and decided upon their way.
"Do you know," said Paul Marchbanks, "you're the first American girls Ihave ever known socially? I've seen tourists in railway stations orrestaurants, but I never talked to any Americans before."
"For goodness' sake!" exclaimed Patty, "have they kept you walled up ina dungeon tower all your life, or what?"
"Not exactly that; but we English fellows who go to school and then tocollege, and meantime live in our country homes, with an occasional runup to London, have almost no opportunity to meet anybody outside of ourown people. And I haven't jogged about as much as a good many fellows.This is the first time I've been to Paris."
"Then that explains your homesickness," said Patty, smiling kindly atthe big boy, whose manner was so frank and ingenuous.
"Yes," he said; "I suppose I do miss the family, for they ARE a jollylot. Oh, I say, won't you people all come down to our place and see us?You're going to England, of course, before you return to the States,aren't you?"
"I don't know," said Elise, smiling; "our plans are uncertain. But ifwe accept all the delightful invitations we're continually receiving, Idon't know when we ever shall get back to New York."
The next day proved to be a most perfect one for an excursion of anysort. They started early, for they wanted to make a long, full day ofit, and return in time for dinner.
The two automobiles were at the door by nine o'clock, and the party wassoon embarked. As Mr. Farrington did not drive his own car, he went inthe other car, sitting in front with Arthur Orara. In the tonneau ofthis car were Patty and Bert Chester. So in the other car rode Mrs.Farrington and Elise and the two Marchbanks. This arrangement seemedhighly satisfactory to all concerned, and the procession of two carsstarted off gaily. Away they sped at a rapid speed along the ChampsElysees, through the Arch and away toward Versailles. The fresh, crispmorning air, the clear blue sky, and the bright sunlight, added to theexhilaration of the swift motion, endowed them all with the mostbuoyant spirits, and Patty felt sure she had never looked forward to amerrier, happier day.
She chatted with Bert Chester, and asked him many questions about thetrip on which he was starting.
"I don't know just where we are going," he said. "I leave all that toOram. The rest of us don't care, and Oram loves to spend hours huntingup reasons why we should go to this small village that is picturesque,or that tiny hamlet that is historic. I'm sure the queer little Frenchtowns will all look alike to me, and I'm not awfully keen about suchthings anyhow. I go for the out-door life, and the swift motion, andthe fresh air and all that sort of thing."
"I love that part of it, too," said Patty, "but also I like seeing thefunny little towns with their narrow streets and squealing dogs. Ithink I have never been through a French village that wasn't justspilling over with squealing dogs."
"That's because you always go through them in an automobile. If youwere on a walking tour now, you'd find the dogs all asleep. But theparamount idea in a French dog's brain is that he was made for thepurpose of waking up and barking at motor cars."
"Well, they're most faithful to what they consider their duty, then,"said Patty, laughing, for even as she spoke they were whizzing througha straggling, insignificant little village, and dogs of all sizes andcolours seemed to spring up suddenly from nowhere at all, and act as ifabout to devour the car and its occupants.
But notwithstanding the dogs, the villages were exceedinglypicturesque, and Patty loved to drive through them slowly, that shemight see glimpses of the life of the people. And it was almost alwaysnecessary to go slowly, for the streets were so narrow, and thesidewalks a mere shelf, so that pedestrians often walked in the road.This made it difficult to drive rapidly, and, moreover, many of thestreets were steep and hilly.
"It never seems to matter," observed Patty, "whether you're going outof Paris or coming in; it's always uphill, and never down. I think thatafter you've climbed a hill, they whisk it around the other way, sothat you're obliged to climb it again on your return."
"Of course they do," agreed Bert; "you can see by the expression of thepeople that they're chuckling at us now, and they'll chuckle again whenwe pass this way to-night, still climbing."
Neither of the cars in which our party travelled were goodhill-climbers, although they could go fast enough on the level. Butnobody cared, an
d notwithstanding some delays, the ground was rapidlycovered.
"There's one town I want to go through," said Patty, "but I'm not sureit's in our route. It's called Noisy-le-Roi. Of course, I know that,really, Noisy is not pronounced in the English fashion, but I like tothink that it is, and I call it so myself."
"There's no harm in that; I suppose a free-born American citizen has aright to pronounce French any way she chooses, and I like that waymyself. Noisy-le-Roi sounds like an abode of the Mad Monarch, and youexpect to see the king and all his courtiers and subjects dancing madlyaround or playing hilarious games."
"Yes, a sort of general racket, with everybody waving garlands andcarrying wreaths, and flags floating and streamers streaming---"
"Yes, and cannon booming, and salutes being fired, and rockets andfireworks going off like mad."
"Yes, just that! but now I almost hope we won't pass through it, forfear it shouldn't quite come up to our notion of it."
"If we do come to it, I'll tell you in time, and you can shut your eyesand pretend you're asleep while we go through."
But the town in question was not on their route after all, and soonthey came flying in to the town of Versailles. Of course, they made forthe Chateau at once, and alighted from the cars just outside the greatwall.
Patty, being unaccustomed to historic sites, was deeply impressed asshe walked up the old steps and found herself on an immense paved courtthat seemed to be fairly flooded with the brightest sunlight she hadever seen. As a rule, Mr. Farrington did not enjoy the services of aguide, but for the benefit of the young people in his charge, heengaged one to describe to them the sights they were to see.
The whole royal courtyard and the great Equestrian Statue of Louis XIV.seemed very wonderful to Patty, and she could scarcely realise that thegreat French monarch himself had often stood where she was now standing.
"I never seemed to think of Louis XIV.," she said, "as a man. He seemsto me always like a set of furniture, or a wall decoration, or at mosta costume."
"Now you've hit it," said Paul; "Louis XIV. was, at most, a costume;and a right-down handsome costume, too. I wish we fellows could dresslike that nowadays."
"I wish so, too," said Elise; "it's a heap more picturesque than theclothes men wear at the present day."
"I begin to feel," said Patty, "that I wish I had studied my Frenchhistory harder. How many kings lived here after Louis XIV.?"
"Two," replied Mr. Farrington, "and when, Patty, at one o'clock on thesixth of October, 1789, the line of carriages drove Louis XVI. and hisfamily away from here to Paris, the Chateau was left vacant and hasnever since been occupied."
"In October," said Patty, "and probably just such a blue and gold dayas this! Oh, how they must have felt!"
"I wouldn't weep over it now, Patty," said the matter-of-fact Elise;"they've been gone so long, and so many people have wept for them, thatI think it wasted emotion."
"I believe it would be," said Patty, smiling, "as far as they'reconcerned; but I can't help feeling sorry for them, only I could neverweep before, because I never realised what it was they were leaving."
The party went on into the Chateau, and visited rooms and apartmentsone after the other. It was necessary to do this quickly if they wereto do it at all, and, as Mr. Farrington said, a hasty tour of thepalace would give them an idea of it as a whole, and sometime he wouldbring the girls again to enjoy the details more at leisure.
Patty was discovering that she was susceptible to what Elise chose tocall wasted emotion, and she found herself again on the verge of tearswhen they entered the Chapel. Though she did not know enough ofarchitecture to survey intelligently the somewhat pompous apartment,she was delightfully impressed by the rich adornments and the wonderfulsculptures, bronzes and paintings.
Rather rapidly they passed through the various SALONS of the museum,pausing here and there, as one or another of the party wished toexamine something in particular. The State Rooms and Royal Apartmentswere most interesting, but Patty concluded that she liked best of allthe Gallery of Battles. The splendid pictures of war enthralled her,and she would have been glad had the rest of the party left her tospend the entire day alone in the great gallery.
But this, of course, they had no wish to do, and with a last lingeringglance at the picture of Napoleon at the battle of Jena, shereluctantly allowed herself to be led away.
Napoleon was one of Patty's heroes, and she was eagerly interested inall of the many relics and souvenirs of the great man.
Especially was she interested in his bedroom, and greatly admired thegorgeous furnishings and quaint, old-fashioned French bedstead.
Having scurried through the palace and museum, Mr. Farrington declaredthat he could do no more sightseeing until he had eaten some sustainingluncheon.
So again they climbed into the automobiles and were whisked away to ahotel in the town.
Here they were provided with a most satisfying meal, which was partakenof amid much merry conversation and laughter.
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