Chilly but tolerably clear. After long delays and much discussion it has been finally determined to fix this as the day for the contemplated visit to France.63 So that after breakfast all was preparation and at half past nine Mrs Adams and Mary, with her main servant started with me for the station of the South Easter railway to go to Folkestone. At the railway carriage we met with Mr Rawle, so that we filled most of one of the comportments. A gentleman and lady whom I took to be spaniard occupied the other seats. The trip was without incident. The country looked fresh and green, and I observed the blossoms of the pear and cherry as nearly out. The hedges also are assuming their colors. At Folkestone we got into the steamer, a small one which plies across to Boulogne. Here I met with Mr Morse on the same errand. The decks and cabins were filled with person, mostly females. There was a short sea from the eastward than soon made almost every body sick. Strangely enough I was exempt from all ailment. As a consequence I could not fail to note the singularity of the scene. This channel has always been noted as a trial of weak stomachs, and it certainly maintained its reputation this day. We were about two hours and a half in crossing. After a half hour’s delay, to take a little meal, we again entered the carriages and proceeded through Amicus to Paris. The country is not interesting through now dressed in its brightest coat. I noticed the absence of all partition or high road fences, and the purity of the small cottages. But on the whole the aspect was of prosperity. The train reached Paris in good season. We found Edmund Brooks’s servant Henri, waiting for us with the carriage, which brought us safely to the lodgings he had engaged in the Hotel Vreillement, in the Rue des Chaps Elysées, which opes into the place de la Concorde. Our rooms are au troisième, and consist of a suite of four bedrooms, a drawing and a dining room, very fresh and clean as well as handsome. We had some tea and soon afterwards were fatigued enough to go to bed. It is just about forty seven years ago since I did the same as a little boy at the Hotel du nord.64