At the hour appointed was in the malle poste - 3 inside - for Chambery. Our route lay along the bank of the Dora and before dark were at the foot of the Alps & passed the little town of Rivoli. Unfortunately though moonlight, the night was misty so that we saw little or nothing of Alpine scenery. At 10 o'clock we were at Susa for the poste drives rapidly along and thence commences the ascent of Mount Cenis. For two hours we ascended on wheels and then passengers and luggage were transferred into covered sledges. As we approached the summit it blew a hurricane, several horses stopped and I put my head out a moment to look, but could see nothing but snow drifted up on all sides - with here and there a guide post sticking out.

Between one and two o'clock the height of 9,000 feet (as my guide book says) was attained, and thence commenced the descent. Galloping down to a milder and less boisterous climate and by six were refreshed by coffee and milk at the little town of Lanslebourg. From hence the road threads through a valley, which in some places contracts to a narrow pass and along a mountain stream called the Arc. A dreary prospect - snow covered mountains, bare rocks, a few stunted pines and here and there a dirty little village.

At Saint Jean de Maurienne the valley widens and is a town of several thousand inhabitants. Here we dined - the wine of the country excellent and the dishes very fair for such a remote place. The waiting maids fresh & rosy cheeked - the stout landlady, a large wen on her neck, wens and sore eyes very common. Passed a silver mine worked by government and at Aiguebelle iron works, both on a small scale.

Approaching Chambery the valley widens, and more fertile. Crossed the Isere, a tributary of the Rhone and a couple of hours after sunset arrived at our destination. And, here I am at the hotel de la poste writing this - when they shewed me the rooms. I inquired for a carpet, they replied it was not customary at Chambery and that here the Queen of Spain put up -