LIFE IN PARIS

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVI, Issue 23012, 2 October 1944, Page 3

LIFE IN PARIS

Little Physical War Damage Shortage Of Necessities N.Z.P.A.—Special Correspondent (7.30 p.m.) PARIS, September 30. “Champagne, by candlelight” might be one of the best ways of describing living conditions in Paris at present. This city, with hardly any physical war damage, has many luxuries still available from pre-war years, but at the same time it lacks many of the necessities of everyday life. It is an experience to be remembered paying a visit to Paris after living in London for all five years of the war, and watching it become shabbier, grimier and battered. The beautiful city of Paris to-day might be compared with a charming woman in elegant evening dress, while London is something of a factory girl with a smudge on the end of her nose. Everywhere in Paris you see women exquisitely dressed with taste and personality. In the shops you can see the widest range of articles. Day and night cafes, bars and nightclubs are full. At, first sight you might think Parisians have suffered little from the war. It does not take, long to correct this impression. One of the most fascinating things about being in Paris, indeed, in any recently liberated country at present, is the conversations you can so readily have with dozens of different people, all of whom have something interesting to relate. With three other war correspondents I met a charming woman Who invited us all to her home to meet her husband, son and friends. Their story was typical, and we listened to it while we sipped champagne by candlelight. This lack of lighting, because. Paris has no coal and little electricity, emphasised the case of luxuries and few necessities. In common with hundreds of other families in Paris, monsieur and madame had led a dull, monotonous life during the occupation, seldom going out from their home except when necessary. Their chief interest was listening to the English radio which, of course, was against Nazi orders. At one period they sheltered one of the leaders of the Resistance Movement for eight months, months when every knock at the front door filled them with tension. As food conditions became worse, it was the same story of those who could afford It buying in the black market, but the poorer people going without. In public, they had to be careful of every word they said, even to their friends, and the habit of looking over either shoulder before speaking became an engrained habit. While they refused to have anything to do with the Ger- i mans, it was galling to see some’ French people driving round jn luxurious cars, being feted by the Germans at places like Maxims. The sight of a car driven by a French person made them mutter automatically, “collaborateur.” Strain and Shortages Then at last came liberation. Parisians, in their excitement and curiosity, were running round the streets watching the fighting and getting mixed up with it, running into houses for shelter, then again continuing to watch it from the housetops. Now all that tension and suspicion have gone, and the people can come and go as they like, say what they like and every evening they crowd the cafes and dance and talk, and begin to live their own lives again. Beneath it all there is still some strain and shortages. Unlike London, there are very few restaurants open, but black market meals are available if you know where to go. There is a shortage of soap, cigarettes and tobacco, and one woman I met had just paid 15/- for a packet of 20 cigarettes bought on the Marche Noir—and they were American cigarettes. There are no taxis in Paris except those run by the army, for all of the 1800 of Paris taxis are still in the garages without petrol. Several cars with gas cylinders are running, and on the black market petrol can be bought for £5 or 1000 francs per can. Newspapers are returning all over France, and there are 12 mornings and evenings in Paris, and 500 throughout the provinces. One of the most interesting subjects ft, of course, political, and here it seems that General de Gaulle has the widest following. There are three main groups at present: One of de Gaulle, who worked for liberation from abroad; another which worked for liberation from within, and the Communists. There seems considerable uneasiness among certain groups at the growing strength of the Communists, who are insisting on greater representation in the Provisional Government. There is some concern among industrialists, because many of their key workers have been taken to Germany, and this will hamper a quick return m the efficiency of their factories. So far General de Gaulle’s regime seems to have given fairly general satisfaction, and there is a general hope that France will have fewer political parties in the future. There will be no general election until all the prisoners of war now in Germany have returned after the war—-a period estimated to be at 'least six months. The chief criticism heard is of those people who collaborated with the Germans not being dealt with quickly enough, and this question of "purifying” France is likely to be one of the most sensitive for some time to come.