noon
The `` chop '' was worse than usual on the night when our travellers crossed ; the steamer had to fight her way inch by inch . And oh , such a little steamer ! and oh , such a long night ! Dawn had given place to day , and day was well advanced toward noon , before the stout little steamer gained her port . It was hours after the usual time for arrival ; the train for Paris must long since have started , and Katy felt dejected and forlorn as , making her way out of the terrible ladies ' - cabin , she crept on deck for her first glimpse of France . The sun was struggling through the fog with a watery smile , and his faint beams shone on a confusion of stone piers , higher than the vessel 's deck , intersected with canal-like waterways , through whose intricate windings the steamer was slowly threading her course to the landing-place . Looking up , Katy could see crowds of people assembled to watch the boat come in , -- workmen , peasants , women , children , soldiers , custom-house officers , moving to and fro , -- and all this crowd were talking all at once and all were talking French !