The _Zouaves_ are on guard here, and you can't see finer men; the Cent Gardes are splendid too.
We drove to look at poor Neuilly on Sunday, the Emperor and Empress proposing it themselves; and it was a most _melancholy sight_, all in ruins. At _le grand Trianon_ we saw the pretty chapel in which poor Marie was married; at the Tuileries the Cabinet where the poor King signed his fatal abdication. I wish _you_ would take an opportunity of telling the poor Queen that we had thought much of her and the family here, had visited those spots which were connected with them in particular, and that we had greatly admired the King's great works at Versailles, which have been left _quite intact_. Indeed, the Emperor (as in everything) has shown _great_ tact and good feeling about all this, and spoke without any bitterness of the King.
I still mean to visit (and this was _his_ proposition) the Chapelle de St Ferdinand, which I hope you will likewise mention to the Queen....
The children are so fond of the Emperor, who is so very kind to them. He _is_ very _fascinating_, with that great quiet and gentleness. He has certainly excellent manners, and both he and the dear and _very_ charming Empress (whom Albert likes particularly) do the _honneurs extremely_ well and _very_ gracefully, and are full of _every kind_ attention....
Instead of my short letter I have written you a very long one, and must end. Many thanks for your kind letter of the 17th.
How beautiful and how enjoyable is this place! Ever your devoted Niece,
[Footnote 73: The Queen and Prince left Osborne early on the 18th in their new yacht, _Victoria and Albert_, for Boulogne, and the visit to France, which lasted nine days, was brilliantly successful. The Queen, in her Journal, recorded with great minuteness the details of this interesting time, and some extracts are printed by Sir Theodore Martin in _The Life of the Prince Consort_.]
[Footnote 74: Marshal Magnan had repressed an insurrection in Lyons in 1849, and aided in the _Coup d'État_ of 1851.]
_Queen Victoria to the Emperor of the French._
SIRE ET MON CHER FRÈRE,--Une de mes premières occupations en arrivant ici est d'écrire à votre Majesté et d'exprimer du fond de mon c[oe]ur combien nous sommes pénétrés et touchés de l'accueil qui nous a été fait en France d'abord par votre Majesté et l'Impératrice ainsi que par toute la Nation. Le souvenir ne s'effacera jamais de notre mémoire, et j'aime à y voir un gage précieux pour le futur de la cordialité qui unit nos deux Gouvernements ainsi que nos deux peuples. Puisse cette heureuse union, que nous devons surtout aux qualités personnelles de votre Majesté, se consolider de plus en plus pour le bien-être de nos deux nations ainsi que de toute l'Europe.