Diary of Annie Adams Fields

Tuesday 20th Up very early out with Jamie before breakfast. Frothinghams started for Chamounix at ½ past 6. Walked to “Les Délices” and saw the confluence of Arve & Rhone from Campagne Matthieu. Colonel Tronchin made us a visit and invited us to pass the evening at his house.

Wednesday 21st Lovely day. Drove to St. Martin, 36 miles upon the way to Chamounix. Arrived just before sunset, there lay the great Mt. Blanc and all the attending spirits clad in silver bathed in the warm rays of sun-set. We ran down to the little stone bridge wh. spans the Arve. The river...

Thursday 22d Pouring hard. Such an unheard of freak of the weather was never seen before. Everybody said ‘don’t go to Chamounix in a rain’ so we jumped into our carriage and night found us cosily seated at the fireside in Geneva. On our way we met the Frothingham party returning; two days...

Friday 23d Saw the sights of Geneva, called at Dr Malans &c. The views about the country from the city heights are superb.

Saturday 24. Such a superb day. Summer and Autumn at the same time. Jamie came in from his morning walk laden with fruit and flowers. Took a carriage early for Coppet. As we drove through Pregny Mt. Blanc in all its glory stood by our side and reflected itself in the unruffled lake. Not a sound...

Sunday 25th Exquisite day. Walked to church. After a little difficulty we found the small chapel which old Dr Malan built for himself years ago in his little garden. The utmost simplicity was shown throughout. The temple, the service, the music—all were true, lovely and simple in the extreme....

Monday 26th Midsummer beauty. Went to Lausanne. A soft haze covered the Lake and mountains. We went into Gibbon’s garden and sat in the arbor where his book was finished looking out upon the perfect calm below; then rambled through the quaint old town & up into the Cathedral (protestant) where...

Tuesday 27th Up early, the day glorious, for the passage of the Tête Noire. George took a mule and engaged a Chaise à Porteurs for me while Jamie & I started off to walk while the day was yet cool. The wild grandeur of the scene and freshness of the air inspired us. We walked a mile or two...

Wednesday 28th Long before sunrise we were awake to see the “morning star stayed in his steep course” over Mt. Blanc. Soon the sun itself stained the snowy peak with a color all unknown to those who have not tracked Great Nature to her fastness at this hour. At ten o’clk we took one of the...

Thursday. 29th A little tired. So we decided to see the valley and the people instead of ascending the Flegère—it was well we did so for in an hour or two heavy clouds swept over the sky and it poured until night. We had such a pleasant dinner alone with two English people who proved so very...

Friday 30th Left Chamounix soon after sun-rise by Diligence for Geneva. The waiter gave me roses from the garden which burn with the warm color of the South despite the Glacial air they breathe. Scenery to Sallanches superb. Mt Blanc is in view almost the whole distance. We walked part of the...

Saturday 1st of October. Lovely day. Drove to the Diodati Villa. It was closed but the grounds were open and we wandered about there. Our companions were Milton, Diodati, Byron. The scene, Paradise. Every leaf seemed undisturbed as if souls walked there in disembodied presence. Heavy roses still...

Sunday 2d of October. How summer-like & lovely the day is! Like the spring or mid-summer, yet how unlike, with all these added beauties of atmosphere of color, the vineyards laden with fruits and the sound of passing footsteps lulled by the falling leaves. The year is dying but such a death,...

Monday October 3d How early it seemed to get up at ½ past 4 to be sure and yet after we were up a feeling of reproach came over me that I did not oftener see the glories of such mornings. The twilight of the morning as it gleamed pure gold in the quiet eastern sky made the Jura blush once more...

Tuesday October 4th Exquisite Day like Mid summer. Drove to call on Brother Hillard, strolled about the streets and returned quite fagged. In the afternoon Drove to the Bois de Boulogne, enchantingly lovely, it is indeed. Saw the Arch of Triumph &c.

Wednesday 5th Was pleasant but very warm. We sauntered out to see the Louvre but the sun burned so fiercely through the unshaded glass of many of the rooms that we retreated precipitately, contented with admiring the exterior and rambling in the cooler streets. At last night came and Jamie left...

Thursday 6th Read at home—several kind friends called—drove out to do some errands.

Friday 7th People in the house are kind to me. Lived a purgatorial day in the shops with Mrs Wales—dined with them à l’Empire.

Saturday 8th Rose very early—put my room in order, took my breakfast, went into my bed-room for my handkerchief & Jamie stood before me. We were so happy. Walked at night on the magnificent Boulevards.

Sunday 9th Went to St. Roch to hear the music. Met Mr Hillard and Mr Clarke. Glorious music it was indeed. We were a little early when we first entered the church and turned about for a walk. Entering the beautiful garden of the Tuileries we found the flowers and grass looking as if May had just...

Monday 10th Breakfasted for the first time at Madame Busque’s and enjoyed her delicious buckwheat cakes. She seems that rare thing an honest french woman. Her honesty is her fortune.

Tuesday 11th Changed our quarters to cheerful little rooms in the Hotel l’Empire. Saw Notre Dame, the Palais des Tuileries, bought a few things and returned home to a cosy dinner and letters from home.

Wednesday 12. Raining a little bit, just the day for the Louvre. Went on the way to see Dr and Mrs Sharpe’s splendid bronzes but spent the rest of the sight seeing day among the wonders of the Louvre. The great Murillo and the Venus de Milo are the gems but all the world of Art is there. There...

Thursday 13th Saw the gaudy Hotel de Ville, the superb historical Notre Dame and that monument of which any nation might be proud who was visited by that perpetual scourge, a standing army—the great Hotel des Invalides and the tomb of Napoleon. We were both struck with the unique beauty of the...

Friday 14th Glorious day at Versailles—the weather like mid summer and the grass brilliant with the Spring’s glad green, all in strange contrast with the falling leaves which accorded but too well with the deserted palaces.