I wish you could know how idle I feel -- how utterly disinclined to anything but mere self-indulgence -- because that knowledge would enable you to estimate the affection and anxiety which prompt me to write in spite of disinclination.... Paradise is in the fields and woods of beech and fir, where we walk in uninterrupted solitude in spite of the excellent roads and delightful resting-places, which seem to have been prepared for visitors in general. The promenade, where the ladies -- chiefly Russian and German, with only a small sprinkling of English and Americans -- display their ornamental petticoats and various hats, is only the outskirt of Paradise; but we amuse ourselves there for an hour or so in the early morning and evening, listening to the music and learning the faces of our neighbours. There is a deficiency of men, children, and dogs: otherwise the winding walks, the luxuriant trees and grass, and the abundant seats of the promenade, have every charm one can expect at a German bath. << less