PARIS PREPARING

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24969, 11 August 1944, Page 5

PARIS PREPARING

ALLIED ARMIES' ENTRY SALE OF WINDOW SEATS (Reed. 7.30 p.m.) NEW YORK. Auk. 10 A group of enterprising black marketeers in Paris have cornered and already sold all the available window seats along the expected route of the Allies' triumphal inarch through thu city, says the New York Times Stockholm correspondent. The . windows around the Place de l'Etoile and the Arc de Triomphe have fetched as high as 10,000 francs (about £56, pre-war exchange). A traveller arriving in Sweden from Paris said that everything was arranged for the Allied entry. Flags and bunting were being prepared almost openly. "I travelled in virtually the last German train from Paris," he added, "because civilian trains have not only ceased all pretence of adhering to timetables, but the Nazis have forbidden anybody to leave Paris without permission. "The idea is to prevent men of military age from skipping out to join the partisans. This, however, . they are doing in increasing numbers under the cover of darkness. "The atmosphere in Paris is improving as the Allies draw nearer,'' the traveller concluded. "There is no longer the fear of bombing. Past raids have severely damaged suburban factories. but have left the city proper almost intact. Ninety-eight per cent of Frenchmen loathe Vichy even more than the Germans."