Chapter 16 Summary

Versailles is so beautiful, Mark Twain compares it to the Garden of Eden. While sculpted landscaping may be something he scoffs at as tacky in a small neighborhood, Twain marvels at the artistic appeal of such landscaping at the palace of Versailles. Inside the palace, where Napoleon and various kings and queens lived, the corridors are lined with war paintings. In the dining room, there is a trapdoor beneath the table in order to lower the table to the kitchens for the servant's to clean after each meal.

After visiting the visually-magnificent Versailles, returning to Paris was a let down. In Faubourg St. Antoine, poor people struggle to live among filth and crime. Groceries are sold here for so little money, the vendor must have stolen the goods to begin with. To ease his own mind, Mark Twain assures the reader that this...