TALBOT3251

Lyon
19 April

My dear Henry

I was very much pleased to find a letter here from you, having been disappointed at Turin & at Chambrey, when we arrived early on Sunday evening & remained there instead of going on to Le Pont de Beauvoisin which we had much better have done, on purpose in hopes of a letter from you the next morning, & behold nihil! ¹ By a new & very troublesome regulation dans tous les Etats Sardes le bureau des postes ² and lettres is closed during the whole of Sunday, & dans les villes commerçantes comme Gênes ³ you may imagine the discontent caused by such an exertion of spiritual authority, for it was a late & unpopular triumph of the Archevêque de Turin ⁴ over the Piedmonten Government. They kept us two hours at the Donane of the Pont de Beauvoisin, which is reckoned the worst of any, they unpacked everything out of three carriages! and you may imagine the trouble & confusion of repacking all in its place again. But of all our misadventures nothing equalled M^t Cenis, for years & years it has never been so impracticable, We went up with fourteen horses & 12 cartonniers & as soon as we reached the deep snow, fifteen french feet above the level of the real road, the Carriages were démontés ⁵ & put upon traíneaus ⁶ & the wheels of all of them put on another, & so we went with the Cartonniers nos anges gardiens ⁷ holding us up on both sides, notwithstanding which the Fourgon ⁸ was overturned & poor Delorme fell into the snow. I was much happier on the Traîneaux than before, because while we were on wheels they were continually slipping on the frozen snow towards the precipice, and the horses the same, for the whole breadth of the road (which you know is a good size) had never been deblayé ⁹ all the winter, but only just enough for a carriage to pass, so you may imagine how narrow it was, & a new fall of snow had occurred just the very same day you mention it in Laycock. En resumé ¹⁰ we narrowly escaped a tourmente ¹¹ of snow & wind in which the Courier¹² de France had nearly perished a few hours before & was obliged to take refuge in one of those houses of the ricovero ¹³ which you know are luckily dispersed on the mountains, & arrived at that cold auberge at Lans Le Bourg in a violent snow storm in which we had been enveloppés ¹⁴ for many hours, but happily for us without wind other wise it would have become a tous morte. ¹⁵ I calculate we shall be in Sackville Street ¹⁶ the 6^th of May, and it would give me excessive pleasure to find you there, as though the Badigeonneurs ¹⁷ will be in the house that need not hinder your occupying your little nest at the top of the tree. Only then you must have your own servant, as Fanny ¹⁸ must always be at home to watch them. I see some large old myrtles killed in the garden here, in general it has been a deplorable winter.

What an odd idea to make a tour in Glamorgan when Kit ¹⁹ is about, & the leaves not out! They are still leafless here & all along the beautiful valley of the Maurienne I must stay in London some time, but intend going down to L. just to look at it - I shall be sorry if you are in Glamorganshire

H.F. Talbot Esq^r
31. Sackville Street
London
Angleterre
direct to Paris