Grand Tour 1932

[Letter 7] Hotel Victoria CANNES, FRANCE Nov 4, 1932 Dear Folks My last letter would have contained, had there been room, some notes of our visit to the chateau of Fontainebleau . This historic structure is 150 years older than the palace of Versailles. We motored over there after our visit to Millet's cottage. The various salons and chambers we saw were as numerous as they were interesting. There is so much fine workmanship in it, that wonderful things get merely a moment's attention--there is so much else to see. There was a parquet floor made of seventeen different kinds of matched woods. The ceilings in the various rooms were the finest imaginable. They were truly masterpieces of the arts of the joiner, the painter and the gilder. Prior to this big excursion we had had the same lecturer for a morning trip through Paris to see famous buildings and monuments. We got out of the taxi to inspect the Pantheon, Notre Dame etc. We also saw the Jewish section. At Dijon (where I wr...

[Letter 6] Hotel Central Dijon, France October 27, 1932 Dear Folks, After a four-hour trip from Paris in a comfortable railroad coach (second-class) we arrived here at 4:30 P.M. We have two lovely, large rooms with bath. The lavatory is directly across from our rooms. They wanted $3.20 total, but accepted $2.60. Isn't that a bargain? Of course, prices may not always be so low, but I give them so that you may be informed, when you discuss travel etc. with friends. My last letter mentioned Chartres . The special purpose of our trip was to see the famous Cathedral. We visited it twice and were lost in admiration of the marvellous stained glass windows perhaps the finest to be seen anywhere. The weather was fine and the excursion was thus a very pleasant one. This past week in Paris was not quite so busy, as there was some rain, but nevertheless we managed to get in some interesting trips. One afternoon we sat in the Tuilleries and Marcus met an American boy. Well, they shook hands ...

Letter 5 FELIX HOTEL 26, Rue Moliere Paris, FRANCE. October 19, 1932 (Wed.) Dear Folks. On Columbus Day we took a second stroll around Canterbury (England) and of course again took a good look at the beautiful and historic old Cathedral. I took motion pictures of parts and also of the town from an elevation. We then took the train to Dover and promptly boarded the Channel boat and just as promptly seated ourselves in the dining room for lunch, which we enjoyed. It was a beautiful day, and the trip was only an hour and fifteen minutes to Calais , France. It was as smooth as a ferry ride to Hoboken. The passport formalities were very simple. From Calais we had second class seats to Paris. They were very fine indeed and the people with us (five others) were high grade. Next to Dora sat an old Gentleman who turned out to be an English physician and school inspector. He was very agreeable company. The trip lasted three hours and we had a good view of French landscape and agriculture. Th...