Between the 15th and the 22nd of July, we were in Paris for my father to deliver a paper at the 5th International Cancer Congress. So that we would be able to understand some things, my mom gave us Berlitz lessons in French for several months before the trip - in those days US schools did not have languages available in middle/junior high school.
My mom also made us figure out how to use the Metro and exactly what trains we had to take to get to any location that we traveled to. She also made us do currency conversions even though she could have done it faster herself
.
Jardin des Plantes - statue of Buffon
Jardin des Plantes in 1950
Jardin des Plantes in 1950
closeup of something like an African violet
We stayed at the Napoleon Bonaparte hotel near the Arc de Triomphe. My mom sent a suit to be cleaned and they lost the buttons which were covered with the fabric of the suit and could not be replaced..The convention arranged for us to have a night visit to the Louvre where all the statutes were lit with floodlights. I do remember seeing the Mona Lisa, but I was more impressed by the Winged Victory of Samothrace and Venus de Milo.
We shopped at the Galleries de Lafayette and I bought an evening dress which I later wore for my high school graduation in 1955 (in those days we did not wear a cap and gown to high school graduation - the girls wore white evening dresses - and in those days, we wore hoop skirts and masses of crinolines underneath our gowns. We sat on bleachers for graduation and we were restricted to one crinoline each)
Dress from the Galleries Lafayette
My sister also got a dress, and we bought gloves
Daddy of course was interested in the Sorbonne
Statue niche
Albert Claude
Pasteur statue at the Sorbonne
My dad was fascinated by these and took some movies of men using them
pisoir
Our parents went to a Folies Bergère show, but we were not allowed to go with them.
In addition to the Louvre we went to Notre Dame, and Sainte Chapelle. We took side trips to Versailles, and there was also a trip to Reims cathedral where the convention had a big dinner.
J Bermbloom - Reims 1950
Dinner Reims
couple at Reims
Draft horse
My mom also made us figure out how to use the Metro and exactly what trains we had to take to get to any location that we traveled to. She also made us do currency conversions even though she could have done it faster herself
.
Jardin des Plantes - statue of Buffon
Jardin des Plantes in 1950
Jardin des Plantes in 1950
closeup of something like an African violet
We stayed at the Napoleon Bonaparte hotel near the Arc de Triomphe. My mom sent a suit to be cleaned and they lost the buttons which were covered with the fabric of the suit and could not be replaced..The convention arranged for us to have a night visit to the Louvre where all the statutes were lit with floodlights. I do remember seeing the Mona Lisa, but I was more impressed by the Winged Victory of Samothrace and Venus de Milo.
We shopped at the Galleries de Lafayette and I bought an evening dress which I later wore for my high school graduation in 1955 (in those days we did not wear a cap and gown to high school graduation - the girls wore white evening dresses - and in those days, we wore hoop skirts and masses of crinolines underneath our gowns. We sat on bleachers for graduation and we were restricted to one crinoline each)
Dress from the Galleries Lafayette
My sister also got a dress, and we bought gloves
Daddy of course was interested in the Sorbonne
Statue niche
Albert Claude
Pasteur statue at the Sorbonne
My dad was fascinated by these and took some movies of men using them
pisoir
Our parents went to a Folies Bergère show, but we were not allowed to go with them.
In addition to the Louvre we went to Notre Dame, and Sainte Chapelle. We took side trips to Versailles, and there was also a trip to Reims cathedral where the convention had a big dinner.
J Bermbloom - Reims 1950
Dinner Reims
couple at Reims
Draft horse
- Next entry in the series 'Visiting Europe - 1950, 1964, 1992, 2002, 2015': From One Conference to Another in 1950 - 18th post
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