“What do you like most of all in Paris?” many people asked me. “It's hard to choose!” I answered: “First of all, the exciting flow of a million of the most boisterous people in the world; second, new ideas in the sciences, philology and fine arts—lectures, picture galleries, theatres; third, the comforts of life—for example, good and inexpensive meals, the ease of travel; fourth, conversations with intelligent and famous people; fifth, the pleasures of Parisian society, or, the so-called, salons.” Let's discuss the latter.

Since ancient times, salons have played an important role, not only in the history of Paris, but also in the history of France, and they influenced the way of thinking, customs, and events in the educated world. So what is a salon? It is a gathering of men and women, similar in education, language, desire to please, to amuse, to shine, but differing in taste, degree of intellect, and philosophical and political views. Usually, a hostess presided over a salon; she combined intellect and upbringing with courtesy, amiability, indulgence, and the talent for talking with any guest. Depending on the character and political status of the hostess, her salon was either a political club, an academy of literature and arts, or just a gathering of educated and courteous people. Such were the salons of Mesdames Geoffrin, du Deffand, the Duchess of Choiseul, the Duchess of Polignac (where the Queen Maria Antonia would find a pleasant conversation), of Madame Necker and her daughter, Madame de Staël, Madame Genlis, Josephine Bonaparte, Madame Tallien, Prince Talleyrand, Madame Recamier, and others. The salons flourished before the revolution. Elegant taste, noble manners, sophisticated urbanity, unconstrained gaiety, and the age-old inherent intellect of French society constituted their charm. Now, all of that has disappeared. The storms of revolutions, the consequences of continuous wars, the obduracy of political parties, dispelled the gaiety, amiability, and nobility of manners and tone from French gatherings. The Duchess d’Abrantes—a woman who saw the former society in her youth, later witnessed the magnificent amusements of Napoleon's Court, and at present is trying in vain to revive the Parisian salon of the eighteenth century—says this about salons: