Prince Gaston, Count of Eu

Getting around

Travel durations and costs in France

A journey from Paris to Rouen by carriage took 18 hours, while traveling to Barèges required 11 days. During the era of stagecoaches, a dinner at a good inn typically cost two francs.

What people wore

Working class clothing and footwear

In the early nineteenth century, industrial workers typically wore plain working clothes, often paired with wooden-soled clogs, while many urban poor wore rags.

Daily life

Cramped and dark living conditions

Ordinary urban homes were often cramped and poorly ventilated, with many workers living in simple apartments of one or two rooms, while some lived in communal boarding houses where rooms were shared dormitory-style. Interior spaces were frequently dark and smoky, as homes relied on open hearths for both heating and cooking, and floors were often made of packed earth rather than wood.

Music

Parisian singing societies and long gatherings

In Paris, goguettes—popular singing societies—were central to daily life, with approximately twenty songs typically sung during meetings that lasted four to five hours.