Paris, like London and Rome, was still largely unpaved at the end of the 18th century. A quick look at the prints of Giovanni Battista Piranesi explains it all. Rome was a desert. Splendid palaces and exquisite churches sat in a bowl of sand, which in summer turned into dust and in winter into mud. Transportation from one palace to another had to be by coach or on horseback. Paris was no different. Going on foot was a hazardous enterprise that invariably led, regardless of the seasons, to the radical discoloration of one's garments. A Dutch diplomat en route to Constantinople in 1785 reported: "The muck of Paris has two important qualities: it leaves black spots on white stockings and white spots on black. We decided to wear tall boots instead."
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