RETURNING TO NORMAL

Waikato Times, Volume 195, Issue 22468, 2 October 1944, Page 5

RETURNING TO NORMAL

CITY HARDLY DAMAGED FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright. PARIS, Oct. 1 “Champagne by candlelight” might be one of the best ways of describing living conditions in Paris at pres-, ent. 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 necessities of everyday life. It is an experience to be remem? bered, paying a visit to Paris after living in London for all five years of the war and watching it become shabbier, grimier and battered.. Everywhere in Paris you see women exquisitely dressed, with taste and personality. In shops you can see a very wide range of articles.. Every day and night the cafes, bars and night clubs are full. At first sight you might think the Parisians had 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. Champagne by Candelight 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 candelight. This lack of lighting is because Paris has no coal and little electricity, and it has emphasised the case of luxuries and few necessities. In common with hundreds of other families in Paris, monsieur and madame had led a dull and monotonous life during the occupation, seldom going out of their home except when necessary. Their chief interest was listening to the English radio. At one period they sheltered one of the leaders of the resistance movement for eight months, montns when every knock at the front door filled them with tension. As food conditions became worse it was the same story of those wno could afford it buying in the black market and poorer people going without. While they refused to have anything to do with the Germans it was galling to see some French people driving round in luxurious cars, being feted by the Germans at places like Maxim’s. The sight of a car driven by a French person made them mutter automatically, “Collaborateur.”

Now all that tension and suspicion have gone and people can come and go as they like and say what they like, and every evening they crowd the cafes and dance, talk and begin to live their own lives again.