"Lieut. Ralston and I went together (on our vacation).
We arrived in Paris last Sunday a.m. It was my first view of
the
city, and I had so many different impressions that I hardly
know which was the first one. One thing I did notice was that
the buildings were not over six or seven stories high. The streets
are very wide and they really have side-walks. When a person
lives in the woods and wilderness for five months as we have,
they are liable to form a wrong opinion. That is what I did.
It is really a wonderful city. I thought it was a real 'Gay Paree,'
but, I guess it is nothing like it was before the war.
"We took a cab and looked over the interesting parts
of the city; such as Eiffel tower, the Invalides where Napoleon's
tomb is, the arch of triumph, the Louvre, etc. These are
all around the Champs Elysées. This place was full of
captured German guns, aeroplanes and tanks. The plane which Guynemer
used and died in is there. He brought down nineteen Boche with
his machine. Altogether he is credited with over sixty victories.
We were only allowed twenty-four hours going through Paris, but
were unable to get a reservation on the train, so had a 24 hour
extension of time. We went through Notre Dame Cathedral and Madeleine.
They are certainly wonderful. We left Paris Tuesday morning at
eight o'clock and arrived in Marseilles at three in the morning.
We stayed there until noon and then left for Nice, arriving here
at six o'clock Wednesday. This is the play-ground of France.
I can not begin to describe this place. It is the most wonderful
thing I ever hope to see. I runs along the Mediterranean Sea
from Cannes to the Italian border. When they talk about the blue
Mediterranean, they talk right, for that is what it is. Up at
the front where we have been it has rained continually for the
last four months. Can you imagine what it means to have the sunshine,
green grass and flowers in bloom? The place is full of palm trees;
olives and the orange and lemon trees are covered with fruit.
Just imagine that after four months in the woods. The buildings
and hotels here are the finest I have ever seen. I thought the
French did not know how to be modern, but I will take it all
back. They are there and over a long ways. It is surprising how
much they will spend for their pleasures. Everything with them
is promenades. Every building of amusement has a promenade and
during the course of an evening, they all get up and walk around
awhile. They have a large Casino here with two theatres in it,
and the main garden is about the size of a square block at home.
That is where we sat and watched the people and listened to the
music, for their music and singing is the very best.
"Yesterday five of us hired a car and went to Monte
Carlo, Mentone and the frontier. On the way over we followed
the
shore all the way and then came back through the mountains.
It was the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. We went in
the gambling hall at Monte Carlo and it is just the same as you
read about. The playing does not start until ten a.m., but the
crowd was all lined up and when the doors opened, they went in
like a drove of sheep. Soldiers are not allowed to play or be
in there while the playing is on. If they did allow it I certainly
would have risked a quarter just to be able to tell about it.
From there we went to the frontier and walked over into Italy
about half a mile. We visited the old castle where Queen Victoria
stayed some of the time. There were ten Australian 'Y' girls
there, so one of them and myself occupied the Queen's bench.
After lunch we started back through the mountains. On most of
the mountains there were remains of old Roman cities and forts,
while off in the distance you could see the snow-covered Alps.
The mountain sides are just covered with beautiful villas, all
made of white stone with different colored trimming. I must not
forget to tell you that while I was promenading at the Casino
the other night I saw I fellow I thought I knew. On close inspection
I found him to be Ralph Hartman. So we have had some nice visits.
He is with the 34th Division, which is up near us. He went through
the Argonne scrap and the St. Mihiel push. I also met two of
my old classmates down here. This place is full of officers and
enlisted men. There seems to be more doctors and dentists down
here than anything else.
"We leave here about next Wednesday and get back to
the outfit Saturday night, making a two weeks' vacation. I hate