Welcome to Henry's Travel Blog!
Although he kept detailed business papers, Missouri Botanical Garden founder Henry Shaw left little personal material for biographers to consider in analyzing his life. One of the few items which remain is a series of five journals. Following his retirement from the hardware business in 1840, Shaw traveled abroad and made notes, recollections, and even sketches in these small bound books. Join us as we chart Henry's journey to Europe and beyond.
 
Shaw's variable spellings, punctuation, and grammar, preserved throughout, are typical even for well-educated gentlemen in the 19th Century. Important note (4/14/09): The entries from March 11, 2009 through April 8, 2009, correspond to recently discovered text from Henry Shaw's journal. They will be posted online under the correct dates to preserve chronological accuracy.
 
   
   

Posted Online Sunday, December 6, 2009

March 14-15, 1842: Journey to Paris

Packed trunks and booked myself for Paris in the diligence. Left Dijon at 6 in the evening with one companion in the coupe. Slept a little during the night and by day light in the morning first observed the river Seine.

At the neat little town of Chatillon the seat of a sou prefecture - during the whole day passed over Champagne - a flat level country and highly cultivated. Scarcely a tree to be seen. At 2 o'clock arrived at Troyes - an irregular built town of wooden houses and 40,000 inhabitants mostly engaged in the stocking weaving business. Soon after leaving Troyes commenced on a paved road which continues for thirty leagues on to Paris - rumbling and jolting at a terrible rate -