Avignon
Hotel de l’Europe
Friday 11th Decr 1874
My dear Henry
I think you will like to have a line from me on my way home. I have been a long time on my journey, for I was detained nearly a fortnight at Genoa, with a bad cold – The weather was splendid overhead, but the tramontana blew pitilessly. I originally intended going back by the Mt Cenis tunnel as I came – but on reflecting how cold it would be in the valley of the Maurienne, I changed my mind, & took a Velturino along the Corniche. I could not abide the idea of going along the lovely Corniche by the villainous railroad – to be buried underground half the time. They say there are 100 tunnels on the line – & I believe the distance is only 196 miles – so that is a tunnel to every 2 miles! Besides which the tunnels are continually crumbling, being made economically – so that any day a catastrophe may be expected. I was very unlucky in the weather – & waited 3 or 4 days at Alassio, & Bordighera in hopes of it’s <sic> becoming finer – but it never did – the day we went from Mentone to Nice, the clouds hung very low abt the mountains, & the old Velturino got rather in a fuss as we started later than was first intended – he had no mind to be benighted or caught in a fog on the mountain – because, as he said, “Colla nebbia non ci si vede nulla” <1> which no one could deny – However the fog was very kind & kept lifting – so that it never really enclosed us so that and we arrived safely at Nice, with daylight to spare. I staid there two days with rain the greatest part of the time, & then went on to Cannes. The weather improved there – but was never really fine, as it used to be in old times, except one day, when I drove to Mont St Cassien. I went also to the Jardin des Hesperides – to see the tree with it’s <sic> curious fruit – half orange half lemon – but the perverse thing has borne no fruit this year –
Friday 12th
I left Nice on Wednesday & slept at Marseilles Avignon Marseille – then came on this short distance today to Avignon yesterday, & this short distance to Valence today.
Notes:
1. We won’t see a thing in the fog.