|
PARIS PASS
by
Glen A. Davison
Headquarters, G-2 Section, 3AD
Written in post-war 1945 and published in Spearhead
in the West
| |
Remember ...
... the " City of Light"? You came in by way of
the "Gare du Nord " and found yourself in the center
of the most unusual city you had ever been in. You expected a
lot in the way of fun and excitement here. You were not disappointed!
Whether you came for wine, women, song or scenery, you got it
in huge doses.
Remember "les Femmes"? Who could forget them! The shop
girls, the girl you "just happened to meet" on the
Metro, the one who showed you the way to the "Rainbow Club,"
and last (but not least) the "Zig-Zig" gals! After
months in mud and battle you KNEW they were the most beautiful
in the world.
One reason you came in was to get away from the army for a few
days. Well. you didn't do it. It seemed like there were a million
GI's in town. Especially around the Rainbow Red Cross Club that
you made your headquarters.
There was the sidewalk cafe. Ten to a block. You sat there with
your drink, rested your weary dogs and ogled the passing gals.
The gendarmes, who were dressed like a doorman at the Waldorf
and who took twenty minutes to tell you the way to the next corner.
And the bicycles -- Seemed like everybody rode 'em! The stuff
they could carry on one of the darned things. That bicycle-taxi
was the deal though. You paid a small fortune to take your girl
riding in one of them and got the thrill of your life. She had
to hold on to something and you were nearest. Wheee!
Remember those long loaves of bread that everybody was taking
somewhere. Boy, what a "hot dog" one would make!
That first cigarette butt you tossed away. How the people dove
for it, and you almost had to quell a riot. You bought some "feelthy
peekchures" (for a buddy of course) and ten to one you found
out later that the top one wasn't so bad, but the rest- well,
they were shots of statues or the like.
You went to the Folies-Bergeres (if you could get a ticket),
to the "Lido" or Moulin Rouge. And there was always
Pigalle, the Broadway of Paris. We called it "Pig-alley."
That GI night club out there wasn't half bad, and a guy paid
four bucks for his champagne instead of ten. And the floor show.
One didn't get his money's worth because the gals "took
it off" before a fellow had a chance to request it at the
top of his lungs, like we do here in America.
Or maybe you were the literary type. You just came in to take
in the culture. Well, there was plenty of that too. We all saw
the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, with its grave of the
Unknown Soldier, and Notre-Dame, and we all promenaded up the
Champs Elysees - No! Not! The lady said that you pronounce it
"Shawn-zay-lee-zay."
If you were interested in Art you had to hurry to take in even
a small part of what there was to be seen. You saw the art galleries
such as the "Rodin" and the "Louvre." Or
you took trips to the studios of famous painters thru the Red
Cross.
We saw the Conciergerie, Les Invalides, Place de l'Opera, le
Madaline, Montmartre, the Pantheon. Place de la Concorde, Place
Vendome, the Rue de la Paix. and the beautiful white Sacre Coeur
on its hill top. Of course you remember them. They were all part
of a"PARIS PASS"! |
|
|