The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1948-09-30
THROUGH
HAZEL
EYES

By Ha3ol 010nno0
The Paris of today is not like
the Paris before the war-at
least that's what those who have
travelled in France before will
tell you.
Paris is still beautiful city,
but the Parisians seem short
tempered, suspicious, distrustful
and at their best present cyni-
cal, unhappy picture
Prices are high and every shop
keeper seems bent on taking"
the tourist before he gets taken"
Luxury items can be had but
they come SO high that only the
wealthy can afford them. Silk
night gowns for instance, all
beautifully hand made, sell for
around $l25.00 American money.
Before the war, of course, they
were much cheaper. Opera glass
es and other such items in which
France has always specialized are
hard to find. They are for ex.
port only.
Food and clothing in France are
still rationed. The bread and
butter ration is felt more severely
by the French than any other
item. Food is plentiful in the
black market where the opera
lions are extensive. Most Of the
people in the cities have to
supplement- their. rations with
food from the black market in
order to exist. People IN the coun-
try fare very well.
Smart restaurants Xix 9
Maxim's and Tour dArgenty
where Princess Elizabeth and
Phillip dined on their trip to
Paris, are reasonable in price
when compared with places IN
New York. You can dine cheaper
at.Maxim's in Paris than you car
at the Starlight Roof of the Wal
dorf. Still dinner check for two
will run from ten to fifteen
American dollars.
One of the delights of the city
is dining in the restaurant high
up in the Eiffel Tower overlook
ing all Paris. The food is excel
lent, music good and the view
superb. Often fashion show is
thrown in for good measure.
The luxuriously furnished per-
fume bars of houses like Guer-
lain were delight to visit es-
pecially in view of the difference
in prices there and here. The
great fashion houses showed
STYLES that were too expensive as
well as Impractical for American
taste and use. Hats were just eN'
4 trerne ara. expensive not prett.
or smart The French are sloWl,
beginning to awaken to the fac
that fashion has developed II
America to a point where thu
word from Paris is not necessari
ly law any more. The habits ane
requirements of American womer
are going to have great dea
more influence on Paris designer:
in the future than they have II
the past.
The impression one gets of the
French people is that they dom
know where they're going. They
seem to feel keenly the humilia
ton of being occupied. One critic
said the French people would
feel the effects of the occupation
for hundred years. Every
Partisan you'd meet would talk
about the part he played in the
resistance if he was not a mem
Der of a fighting unit. Or he
would talk of some daring thing
some member of his family die
in the underground. All of then
seem whipped down mentally
morally, and spiritually as wei
as physically.
Down on the French Riyiers
there are plenty of hotels ana
even though clean they are pretty
run down. The Mediterranean j:
Just as blue and beautiful as ever
pictured, and the sunshine a:
dazzling.
The most interesting thing II
me was to sit on the boardwalk
and watch the people go by. Seer
here were peoples Of all nations
many of them without homes OF
ties of any kind. Many had fled
Hitler's Germany. All seemed to
have pl0nty Of money.
There was and is definite
shortage of men in France.
During the evening one goes ia
sidewalk cafes and open air res.
taurants overlooking the sea
where there is music and dancing
There may be seen young at
tractive girls who come alone
and sit at table ordering soft
drink or at most a glass of wine
When the music starts young
man, or one not SO young, will
come up and very formally in
vite one of the girls to dance
She always accepts. The other girl
may or may not be asked, At the
conclusion of the dance he es-
corts her back to her table and
goes on his way to another girl
another dance.
Many visitors in France gel
the impression that France as a
nation has run her course
that she will never again be q
first rate major power. Events
since the conclusion of the second
World War seen to justify this
viewpoint.
Certainly the devasting eff
fects of two World Wars on the