When he traveled on his inspection trips around France, he often sought the company of prostitutes. He was often cynical about his relationships, writing, "There are two kinds of women; those who are worth the sacrifice of your life, and those who are worth between five and forty francs. Many years later he wrote to Jenny Dacquin, "It is a fact that at one time of my life I frequented bad society, but I was attracted to it through curiosity only, and I was there as a stranger in a strange country. As for good society, I found it often enough deadly tiresome."