Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-10-11
TOURING FRANCE
DONE WITH COST
AND D|SC0NF ORT
Hotels 0vercroWdedj Apart
ment Rentals Treble Price
Of a Year Ago. the Demand
Seems To Increase Daily,
Copyright, 1919, by the Press Publish
ing Co.
(The New York World.)
Especial Gable DspatchD

Especial Gable Dispatch)
Paris, Oct. 10.--American tourists
coming to France on pleasure and en-
| ightenment bent need not imagine
| their path is going here to be strewn
| with roses. such floral offerings as
may he made them are likely to consist
chiefly of thorns. For despite the oft
voiced eagerness of the French gov
eminent to see a resumption of sight
seeing traffic from over the Atlantic
the fact remains that travel and even
ordinary immobile existence in this
country today is fraught with practi-
cally as many difficulties as it was
during the dark days of the war.
Neither the French people nor the
French authorities have recovered
lheh peace time attitude toward for
eigners, and even for the sake of the
profit to be derived from him French
men are disinclined to go out of their
way to make the. travellers lot
happy one. Most Americans seem to
think that, once having conducted a
successful offensive against passport
dictators at New York or Washington,
their troubles in this respect are praC
tically over, whereas in reality they
have just begun. Having hacked his
way through a Hindenburg line of in
quisitors at French port of dsem-
kation, the unfortunate voyager ar
irving at Paris must repair forthwith
to the prefecture of police and obtain
a card emitting him to soiourn in
France, This sounds simple, and is,
provided one can talk French fluently
and has from three hours a week to
spare in putting the thing through.
This formality accomplished, one may
linger TRANQUILITY in Paris, taking care,
however, to notify the police by a per-
sonal vista matter of only few
whenever one changes ones
domicile.
Touring about battlefields is sub
ject to no special regulations, except
where Alsace-Lorraine is concerned.
But should one desire to journey to
some other country, England, Italy or
Spain, one must be prepared for from
two days to a weeks wrangling over
yises
Having solved his passport prob
lens, the tourists next preoccupa
ton is food and shelter. In Paris and
the larger French cities there are, OF
course, plenty of good hotels al
which, however, are fairly bulging
with the multitudes of guests they are
trying to crowd under their roofs
Finding room anywhere is considera- |
BILE of feat, finding room at reason |
able rates even in second-cass hostel |
ries is out of the question Five to |
eight dollars a day for a single room |
is what our innocents abroad must be
to pay, with prices for
meals laundry and the traditional |
extras" on a correspondingly lofted |
scale.
Should their stay here be sufficient |
ly long to lead them to prefer settling |
down in a flat they will encounter !
even prickler thorns. Here is what
Frank Arthur, principal purveyor OF
real estate to the Anglo
colony, has to say about the apart
ment problem.
Rents Have TrcHcd
FURNISHED apartments have in
MANY instances trebled in price, and |
ones may yet reach that
increase The smallest flat acceptable
to the temporary American resident
bedroom, sitting room, dining room,
bath room and Kitchens scarce y
obtainable under 1000 francs
month year ago this could be had
for one third that amount.
"The reason is twofold: The popu-
latfon of Paris has tremendously in
creased and the cost of building has
risen to four times the pre-war stand
ard. / see no hope of rents falling.
THE departure of American TROOPS
and the vast number of American
welfare workers stationed here has
altogether failed to ease the situation
The demand seems to increase daily
while the supply stands still. What
will happen when the tourist flood
sets in in earnest Heaven only knows"
Mr. Arthur for several weeks has
been trying to obtain suitable resi-
1ence for Ambassador Wallace, thus
TAR without success.
Seeing the battle zone is both inter-
asting and thrilling, the latter adjec
i've having reference to the adVen-
.urcs tourist is bound to have in
coating a place to sleep. The devas-
ated areas are wholly lacking In
lotel accommodations. One must
Journey many miles back from the
Sid front to discover sleeping quar-
ers, and even then hotels are apt to
ie overcrowded and extremely bad.
l'he lay of the land at Romagne in
he Argonne country is characteristic
If what the tourist is up against.
since the DlSSeSt American military
cemetery is situated there American
raveers are sure to visit It in shoals
The nearest intact town is Sainto
in which there are two
mall inns Boosting about fifty bed |
ooms between them. And Sainto
denehould is fifty miles from Ro-
nagne. OF course hotels will be built L
ONE day in all these regions, espe-
tally to accommodate the tourist
rade, but the French government is
OF going 20 let the erection of such
Establishments take precedence oEpr
he construction of homes for HON =
ISIS peasants, so it may pc years be-
ore any shelter other than that pro-
ided at Sainte Menehould is avail
BILE
The war zone can be adequately l.
zen only by automobile. Unless one
fortunate enough to find place on
ne of the regular autohus excursions
ne must hire a car at rate which
ONES TO minimum of $50 day. Sc
you are coming to France to see the
ghts prepare for the most expensive
"a hla bind pf 'tcln1 ninp