HAPPY TRAVELLERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17999, 9 November 1926, Page 9

HAPPY TRAVELLERS.

A WORD IN WOMAN'S PRAISE. By Philippa Kendrick.) Holidaying in France this year has held one special aspect of charm. One has had ample opportunity to be well and truly proud of the much-maligned “modem woman.’’ Here, there, and everywhere, little parties of women chums were having a right good time together, and proving beyond cavil that emancipation and independence can go hand in hand with serenity, gaietv, fine mutual give-and-take, and a sprightly sense of humour. Not the most incorrigible cynic can point a sardonic finger at spinster trav ellers to-day. Their esprit-de-sexe is no longer of the old challenging, defiant order. There is no “faute de mieux’’ element in their comradeship. They obviously ask nothing better than the companionship of their own sex. And how infectious, on long train journeys and in packed hotels, was that radiating congeniality! Even a fleeting contact with it sufficed to silence the grouser and create a general atmosphere of goodwill. For, incidentally. one could not fail to note that grumbling, amid unfamiliar conditions and circumstances, came from the mixed contingents: not from the happy, philosophical all-women groups. Dames escorted by cavaliers were nothing like so pleased with life in general and foreign travel in particular as were the “unattended" ladies, who seemed to be steeped in the innermost spirit of joie-de-vivre. And please don’t confuse “spinster” with middle-age! Lots of them were radiant young girls. Tact, too, was one of their prevailing characteristics. Tact—and the essential good manners that are an inherent part of that excellent attribute. They had an ever-ready word of praise for French cooking; for the incomparable comfort of French beds (even the mattresses are daily aired at the open window) ; and for French home life. Sometimes, it is true, their little tributes were paid in halting class-room French, but always with gallant goodheartedness that overcame the difficulties of the language. And they made friends in record time with the little French toddlers and the babies in the Bois dc Boulogne. They refrained, too. from openly rejoicing in the golden advantages of the rate of exchange, thereby setting a much-needed example to many of their masculine compatriots. No need worry about the heart—or the head—of the “modern woman." Both are in excellent working order. lier own fellow-countrymen may malign her. But ask the French folk what they think of her--especially the kiddies. You 11 be surprised!