With each improvement in the speed of our steamers, something of the glamour of Europe vanishes.The crowds that yearly rush across see and appreciate less in a lifetime than our parents did in their one tour abroad.A good lady of my acquaintance was complaining recently how much Paris bored her.
"What can you do to pass the time?" she asked.I innocently answered that I knew nothing so entrancing as long mornings passed at the Louvre.
"Oh, yes, I do that too," she replied, "but I like the 'Bon Marche'
best!"
A trip abroad has become a purely social function to a large number of wealthy Americans, including "presentation" in London and a winter in Rome or Cairo.And just as a "smart" Englishman is sure to tell you that he has never visited the "Tower," it has become good form to ignore the sight-seeing side of Europe; hundreds of New Yorkers never seeing anything of Paris beyond the Rue de la Paix and the Bois.They would as soon think of going to Cluny or St.Denis as of visiting the museum in our park!
Such people go to Fontainebleau because they are buying furniture, and they wish to see the best models.They go to Versailles on the coach and "do" the Palace during the half-hour before luncheon.