Ruth’s Diary

We landed at the Garc (?) de Lyon about 7 A.M. & then took the subway or Metro to the pension. The pension was located in the Latin Quarter. We went up narrow dingy streets & in through a gate which opened in a courtyard & garden. They were expecting us & we also had breakfast – French bread, delicious jam, a large quantity of butter in little curls & also more than enough cocoa. Some went to bed while about 5 of us went to Notre Dame. I hesitated about going in as my clothes were not quite appropriate, but I am glad I did, for I witnessed solemn high mass in the cathedral & it was a brilliant pageant, with the scarlet robes, the incense (sic), etc. We had dinner at the pension – such a meal as I had not had in a long while – soup, beef, mashed potatoes, & cheese & dessert. We all bot red or white wine to go with our meals. In the afternoon we went to the Louvre. On the way we stopped again at Notre Dame & went up one of the tours (?) for a grand view of Paris. The vastness of the Louvre is overwhelming. Helen & I bought a guide book & were so long pouring over it that we didn’t see as much as we ought have. We did manage to see a few outstanding works of art – Venus de Milo – & other Greek works of art, Mona Lisa -, Corot(?), Millet. The museum closed at 5 & we had to leave so we came back to the pension. The time for dinner in France & on the continent seems to be 7:15. We had soup first – I was thinking it was the piece de resistance had 2 servings – then we had meat & vegetables, salad, as a separate course, also cheese, then dessert & coffee. After supper we all went to the Normandie to see Charles Laughton in Jamaica Inn. I enjoyed myself but not because the movie was any good – it was terrible – more on the idea of the old melodrama. We returned home by the motor bus, stopping at a cafe at the foot of the street for a beer before we turned in.