The first post-station is Parois.  It is a beautiful drive thither, and the village itself is exceedingly picturesque.  From Parois to Dormans, the next post village, the road continues equally interesting.  We seemed to go each post like the wind; and reached Epernay by nine o’clock.  The drive from Dormans to Epernay is charming; and as the sky got well nigh covered by soft fleecy clouds when we reached the latter place, our physical strength, as well as animal spirits, seemed benefited by the change.  I was resolved to bargain for every future meal at an inn:  and at Epernay I bespoke an excellent breakfast of fruit, eggs, coffee and tea, at three francs a head.  This town is the great place in France for the manufacture of Vin de Champagne.  It is here where they make it in the greatest quantities; although Sillery, near Rheims, boasts of champagne of a more delicate quality.  I learnt here that the Prussians, in their invasion of France in 1814, committed sad havoc with this tempting property.  They had been insulted, and even partially fired upon—­as they passed through the town,—­and to revenge themselves, they broke open the cellars of M ..., the principal wine merchant; and drank the contents of only—­one hundred thousand bottles of champagne!” “But,” said the owner of these cellars, (beyond the reach of the hearing of the Prussians, as you may be well assured!) “they did not break open my largest vault ... where I had half as much again!.  “Indeed, I was told that the wine vaults of Epernay were as well worth inspection, as the catacombs of Paris.

I should observe to you that the river Marne, one of the second-rate rivers, of France, accompanies you pretty closely all the way from Chateau Thierry to Chalons—­designated as Chalons-sur-Marne. From Epernay to Chalons you pass through nothing but corn fields.  It is a wide and vast ocean of corn—­with hardly a tree, excepting those occasionally along the road, within a boundary of ten miles.  Chalons is a large and populous town; but the churches bear sad traces of revolutionary fury.  Some of the porches, once covered with a profusion of rich, alto-relievo sculpture, are absolutely treated as if these ornaments had been pared away to the very quick!  Scarcely a vestige remains.  It is in this town where the two great roads to STRASBOURG—­one by Metz, and the other by Nancy—­unite.  The former is to the north, the latter to the south.  I chose the latter; intending to return to Paris by the former.  On leaving Chalons, we purposed halting to dine at Vitry-sur-Marne—­distant two posts, of about four leagues each. La Chaussee, which we reached at a very smart trot, was the first post town, and is about half way to Vitry.  From thence we had “to mount a huge hill”—–­ as the postilion told us; but it was here, as in Normandy—­these huge hills only provoked our laughter.  However, the wheel was subjected to the drag-chain—­and midst clouds of white dust, which converted us into millers, we were compelled to descend slowly.  Vitry was seen in the distance, which only excited our appetite and made us anxious to increase our pace.