Evening star., 1939-06-25
Paris Atmosphere
Gives Vacation
Distinctive Charm
Coy Side Shows Of
Life Found Tucked
Away in City's Corners

1A1tAO, julio Zf.-OuCIl OiV6ISl-
ned program of events has been
planned for Paris this summer that
there will be unusual attractions for
every member of the family, whether
he be interested in art, science, sports
or history. 1t is year of celebra-
} tions, and the French capital will be
In its most scintillating mood.
+ or particular Importance will be
the commemoration of Racines
! birthday. for which occasion COM
plete cycle of this great writer's plays
will be presented at the Coincide
Francaise. Another colorful festival
I will be that marking the 50th year
since the construction of the Eiffel
Tower, Paris world-famous land
mark. Bastille Day will be cele-
brated with even greater eclat than
Susual, since this is its 150th ami
versary year. On July IA a great
parade will proceed down the
Champs Elysees, and in the evening
there will be fireworks and, of course
the traditional dancing in the street.
. On other dates during this season
there will be various historical cele-
brations in connection with this an
! niverSary.
Music lovers will find the Paris
Opera presenting four magnificent
performances a week during the en-
tire summer. A brimming concert
season will include the 60th ami
q versary celebration of Cesar Franks
"Beatitudes." which will be sung bv
the most distinguished soloists and
cholr In the country, under the lead
ership of Alfred Cortot. This will
take place in the Church of Ste
Clothilde.
Holiday Spirit Prevails.
II is joyous season when the
Grand Prix" and night races are
\ run at Longchamps. Theaters and
restaurants are at their gayest. SYM
phonic orchestras sound a majestic
chord, and at the opera renowned
lyrlc artists head international casts.
Jaunty little river boats all gaudv
WIN banners. go chueging up and
Gown the Seine. Smart automobiles
crowd the boulevards and the
Champs Elysees. There are air meets
IN Vincennes, aquatic sports on the
river, and in every quarter of the
city that unique enchantment that
is Paris on holiday!
Y The air is filled with staccato
noises and gay little humming tunes,
fioWer markets nestle in the shadow
OF Ola buildings; women with huge
baskets piled high with roses, thread
thelr way through the busy streets,
selling their fragrant wares. Chill
oren IN suits and frocks as delicately
+ United as budding flowers, play in
= the gardens of the Luxembourg or
crowd the low benches of a Champ
Elysees "Guignol" where, under
spreading chestnut trees, for more
than a century "Guafrom" and
"Gilberte" and the tiny wooden gem
darme and all the cast of accom-
pllshed puppets have danced their
way into the hearts of small
Parisians.
Little open-air carnivals cavort
at the most unlikely corners, their
songs as old as the troubadours
thelr costumes as picturesque as a
leaf from the Middle Ages. Banners
wave and carousels whirl. poodles
Jump through hoops, an aged lion
>dfoWses IN a cage, two baby seals
called for box office purposes "sea
hons"-bark Justify in their portable
tank; there may be living skeleton,
and probably, too; dancing bear;
acrobats, do their turns" on i'm
provlsed ladders, and solemnly walk
ing a tlght-rope, is cat, for all the
world like Tabby back on the Kansas
farm! She goose steps" in metro
nomlc time with a wheeling ac-
Gordon, unheedful alike of the ap-
piause of the tarrying crowd and
>~ot the proximity of Professor
Charles" trained mice, which are ex-
hlblted in booth only cats iump
away! 1t is ali part of the store
DOCK village which is Paris on holi.
days!
Cosmopolitan Crowd.
1t has been said that "All good
Americans, when they die, 20 to
Paris This sentence epitomizes
the allure which the French capital
has for foreigners. For many gen.
erations Paris has attracted not only
the cosmopolite, blase European no
blllty, ex-kings, Indian rajahs and
mlllionaires from the two Americas,
but more and more in recent years
1t attracts Midwestern spinsters,
college professors, students, tired
businessmen and maids and matrons
from across the seas. The ineffable
charm OF Paris has been a magnet to
all oeauty-loving people, its infinite
variety has realized every dream
=. and, what is perhaps more important
IN the days of recession" every
purse.
There is so much to be seen in
Paris, so much that is free, so much
that is priceless and beautiful. There
are great museums and little parks,
magnificent gardens of palaces of
kings; historic monuments and
churches. There are tree -bordered
boulevards and narrow cobbled
streets that long ago felt the rhyth-
mic beat of Crusaders march, be-
ginning their long pilgrimage to the
Holy Land. There are little shrines
to memory, such as Victor Hugo's
Museum in the Place des Vosges,
and the tiny rooms where Condorcet,
prescribed and in hiding wrote his
masterpiece. There is Dante's lodg-
ing, and the winding twisted street
where the three musketeers, newly
arrived in Paris, first unsheathed
their swords.
There are beautiful walks and
drives-through the Bois de Bou-
logne, out Fontainebleau way, or to
Versailles It was Hugo who said