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CHAPTER XI
THE "LITTLE PEOPLE" OF PARIS
The "little people" of Paris are not confined
to any particular quarter of the city. They
are to be found everywhere, in spacious avenues,
in streets of heraldic renown, in the sinister
neighbourhood of La Roquette, through the noisy
length of St. Denis. Opposite the palace of the
Duke of La Rochefoucauld in the Rue de Varennes
will you see an old curiosity shop, and close
by work a mild-eyed cobbler and his wife, a
little sempstress. Excellent types, both of these
indefatigable little people of Paris, living in two
tidy attics of this aristocratic street, with an air
of quiet independence. The little people are of
all sorts: beginning with the "little" bourgeoise
and ending with the rag-picker and the marchand de quatre saisons. The little bourgeoise
is a curious study, and to penetrate into the
precincts where she breathes and thrives, the
foreigner must be her boarder. Else will he
obtain none but a superficial view of her; and
