To this latter class belong the stunning
and splendid equipages which may be hired for any period, extending from
a few hours to an indefinite number of months, and which enable the
stranger to make as fine a display of equipages and liveries as the
wealthiest resident of the city. The first two classes, the cabs
properly so called, are, however, the most interesting to the transient
visitor to Paris or to the permanent resident with a purse of moderate
dimensions.
The cabs of Paris, as a rule, are comparatively neat and comfortable,
those belonging to the Compagnie Generale des Voitures (of which
institution more anon) being carefully brushed and cleaned every day. In
winter a two-seated coupe lined with dark cloth or with leather, and
drawn by a single horse, is the usual style of vehicle offered for the
accommodation of the public. The price of such a vehicle is thirty cents
for a "course" or single unbroken trip, which may be from one side of
Paris to the other, or forty cents an hour. The coachman is bound by law
to give the person engaging him a square ticket on which is printed his
number and the exact amount of his fare: this last, however, being
stated as varying under certain conditions and at certain hours, is apt
to be rather puzzling to the inexperienced traveler, particularly if he
or she be ignorant of French. Four-seated carriages are hard to find in
winter: they are drawn by two horses, and the fare is ten cents more on
the course and by the hour than that of the two-seated ones.
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