Grand Tour 1932

[Letter 11] Hotel Victoria, Cannes, FRANCE December 15, 32 Dear Folks, These last two weeks have been the quietest we have had since we started our trip. On many of the days the skies were gray; occasionally it rained. We therefore did not undertake the trips we had in view. Several times I went down to the harbor and made use of my watercolors. Dora took a trip to Nice to reserve rooms for our homeward trip early in April. Being unencumbered by Marcus and me, she "did" the city thoroughly. The straight, tree-lined Avenue de la Victoire is crowded with people. Window-shopping is delightful -- and safe. Another day Dora accompanied three old ladies, fine old British specimens, to Monte Carlo . No, they did not go near the Casino. They went to reserve rooms (for the three old ladies) who are going there after Christmas. Later they will move on to Menton. The run from Cannes to Nice is nothing wonderful, but from Nice to Monte Carlo it is truly marvellous, says Dora. One pass...

[Letter 9] Hotel Victoria Cannes, FRANCE November 18, 32 Dear Folks In my last letter I did not say much about our trip to Menton , Monte Carlo etc. because part of the trip was during the rain and so, though were were thrilled by the wonderful views, we decided then and there that we must take that journey again, in perfect weather. On November 11the dining room and the public halls were decorated with the flags of many nations in honor of Armistice Day. There were rattles and other noise-makers on the tables. We seated the six children at a special table for dinner and they had a hilarious time. I was the only man at a table of nine. A desire for wine was natural on such a festive occasion and so two of the ladies had large bottles of champagne on the table. We abstained. There are quite a number of husbandless ladies here and it is hard to tell which are widows, as those who have husbands rarely mention them. Three old British ladies have taken Dora's fancy. They are very brig...

[Letter 8] Hotel Victoria, Cannes, FRANCE November 11, 32 Dear Folks We are very comfortably established in our rooms. Dora emptied the bags and the trunk as soon as they arrived. There is a lot of space to put things away, as shown by this floor plan. The larger room is ours, but Marcus has plenty of space, a lovely table with mirror, a bedlight etc. "W" in the diagram means window. His room overlooks a private garden across the street. In several letters I discussed prices in some detail. You understand, of course, that I have no undue interest in such figures, but merely wish to pass along first-hand information which you can give to anyone in need of it. A matter of very divergent opinion was the wisdom of shipping our trunk on to Cannes. The cost was said to be prohibitive. We sent out our trunk from the boat to Cannes by "slow freight". It was claimed about five weeks after it was shipped. The total charges were 230 francs or $9.20. To this should be added del...