obtained at restaurants or at their own homes. Here the inhabitant of Grenoble can obtain a dinner of a quart of soup, meat or fish, vegetables, dessert, bread, and a quarter of a litre of sound wine, for the sum of sixpence halfpenny. Membership is acquired by the payment of a small sum—I believe two francs; but dinner-tickets must be bought in advance, and no credit is given. The lower orders have not been slow in recognising the advantages to be derived from connection with the Association Alimentaire, which is said to have produced the happiest results among them. It is creditable to the management that this institution not only pays its expenses, but yields a small profit.
Although Grenoble may fairly be proud of this association, in other matters it has cause to be ashamed. Its streets are narrow, ill-paved, and tortuous; and its smells, and the improprieties to be seen in its houses, must be known to be appreciated.[1]
I lost my way in the streets of this picturesque but noisesome town, and having but a half-hour left in which to get a dinner and take a place in the diligence, was not well pleased to hear that an Englishman wished to see me. It turned out to be my friend Macdonald, who confided to me that he was going to try to ascend a mountain called Pelvoux in the course of ten days; but, on hearing of my intentions, agreed to join us at La Bessée on the 3d of August. In a few moments more I was perched in the banquette en route for Bourg d'Oysans, in a miserable vehicle which took nearly eight hours to accomplish less than 30 miles.
At five on a lovely morning I shouldered my knapsack and started for Briançon. Gauzy mists clung to the mountains, but melted away when touched by the sun, and disappeared by jerks (in the manner of views when focussed in a magic lantern), re-
- ↑ "Les maisons sont beaucoup plus malpropres que les rues. La plupart des allées et des escaliers ressemblent a des dépôts publics d'immondices. Dans la vieille ville, les maisons n'ont pas de concierge. Les habitants de la ville, affligés de déplorables habitudes, y entrent incessament sans scruple et sans pudeur, et rarement les propiétaires ou les locataires s'associent entre eux pour faire disparaître les ordures qui déshonorent leur demeure." — Joanne's Itinéraire du Dauphiné, vol. i. p. 118.
