An American Heroine in the French Resistance: The Diary and Memoir of Virginia D'Albert-Lake

3. Life after the Fall of France

3 Life after the Fall of France SEPTEMBER 1940–APRIL 1944 September 1940 .............................. We have remained at Nesles all month. These are peaceful days after the excitement of last month. Bought 100 Lbs. flour—800 Lbs. potatoes. In order to try and find something to eat, I am obliged to go to biweekly market in l’Isle-Adam; City badly damaged, several Germans buried at side of road. No more bridge across the Oise River! Have to cross on a small boat with a bicycle and all. No more gasoline at all for the public. Only Public services on the road with their large ‘‘S.P.S.’’ on windshield.1 Our blue baby [Fiat] is under the shed at the ‘‘Faisan Doré,’’ a used to be restaurant not very far from the house. The owners, Mr. & Mrs. Fleury were the ones that helped us to acquire our land, and they have become friendly and most helpful neighbors . Wonder how long it will be before we can use a car again?2 No buses or taxis in Paris (except bicycle trailer taxis—two seats, closed to inclement weather—cute as can be). As a result, the Métro is having record business—and everyone from ‘‘Mademoiselle Dupont’’ to the ‘‘Comte & Comtesse de la’’ whatever pedals around the city on their bicycles!3 1. S.P.S. stands for Service Protection Sociale, a government program in France that deals with health, welfare, and social services. 2. Lack of gasoline led to the development of vehicles that were powered by a combustion engine, the gazogène, which burned wood, charcoal, or coal; the engines were mounted on buses, cabs, and cars. 3. Virginia is emphasizing that even very wealthy individuals, such as counts and countesses, were now required to take the Métro, the Paris underground. Jackson notes that ‘‘since the Germans issued permits for only 7,000 private cars in Paris, the streets of the city were eerily empty.’’ Describing the wartime years as the ‘‘heyday of the bicycle,’’ he comments on how the people of Paris turned to bicycle-rickshaws for taxis. Even bicycles, however, ‘‘were subject to German requisitioning and the October 1940 .......................... Spent the month in Paris apropos the apartment of 1 bis rue Vaneau being sold. City depressing.4 Bought over 2,000 Frs. worth of canned goods and pasta to put on reserve at Nesles. (80 Lbs. of pasta—40 Lbs. of dried beans) Collided into an elderly gentleman while crossing the Place Vendôme with my bike. Knocked him down, sprawled myself over the pavement. Result: Monsieur said not a word, either concerning myself or himself,— walked off rather disgruntled. I broke a bottle of wine and sustained a beautiful bruise on upper leg. A policeman nearby was most upset about the wine! (ordinary wine, practically impossible to find. I laid pieces of broken bottle at foot of Napoleon’s statue!!) Laughed as I saw myself pedaling across the Place De la Concorde towards a luncheon rendez-vous at ‘‘Pruniers,’’—a stunning hat with veil ribboning out behind, coat of fur and velvet, our dog Pax taking in the view from his vegetable basket in the rear. I love cycling in Paris, it is real sport—and one makes time. November 1940 ............................. —England suffering under heavy bombardments.5 —No milk. —Very hard to get meat. Never enough for all even with ration tickets. I went to the butcher shop before it was even light early morning to find fifty women standing in line before me! —City gas restricted. Philippe had quite an experience on the day we left Paris again for Nesles. He was walking down the Rue Royale when he saw a German Shepherd dog on the loose, wandering amongst the traffic and risking to scarcity of rubber made tyres difficult to replace. The price of bicycles rocketed, and there was a black market in stolen ones.’’ Jackson, France: The Dark Years, pp. 251–252. 4. With Philippe no longer employed, the family had to sell the apartment at 1 bis, rue Vaneau, though they maintained use of it after it was sold. 5. This is a reference to the intensive German bombing of London from September 1940 until May 1941, known as the Blitz. 76 ] The Diary be run over any minute. It took him a long time to approach the scared animal, but finally managed to do so. The dog...