Passages from the French and Italian Notebooks, Volume 1.

"Passages from the French and Italian Notebooks, Volume 1" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a travel account where the author shares his travels through France and Italy, probably during the 1800s. The book shares Hawthorne's thoughts, adventures, and what he notices as he moves through different places and groups of people, giving readers a look into what an American traveler thought about Europe back then. The story starts with Hawthorne leaving England for France, showing the gloomy and chilly feeling of his travels. He uses strong descriptions to show how cold it was as he gets on a train and a boat, feeling uneasy the whole time. When he gets to Amiens, he looks at the big differences between England and France in their buildings and ways of life and is amazed by the big cathedral there while also feeling like an outsider and making jokes about French train workers and the frustrating rules he deals with. This start sets the stage for a thoughtful and detailed journey, where Hawthorne is interested in the attractive and strange parts of the cities he goes to while also dealing with his own feelings of discomfort and how he sees these foreign countries.