CHAPTER I.

PAGE Introduction--Charing Cross--Dover--Submarine Channel Tunnel --Calais--Advantages of travelling second class--Superfluous examination of luggage--Paris--Dining _à la carte_ versus _table d'hôte_--Noël--An Officer's Funeral--Lyons--Scenery of the Rhone--Constant changes in the landscape--Want of proper accommodation at the railway stations--Defective lighting of railway carriages 1