Original: At first comfortably off , he divided his time between Paris and country homes in Villers-sur-Mer and the Cote d'Azur , but after the onset of World War I his circumstances were progressively reduced , he was forced to sell one of his houses and , from 1915 , took work lecturing and teaching .
Simplified: At first he was comfortably off , but after World War I the family lost a lot of money and they had to sell their country house .