Don Martin diary entry for Monday, March 11, 1918:
Air Raid – Paris 9:45 to 12:25.
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| Notre Dame |
Had dinner with him at Prunier’s restaurant. Then came to the hotel, the Crillon, which is about the best in Paris. Baker, Secretary of War, is here.
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| National Archives Photo No. 165-WW-439A-45, 3-11-1918 |
Life is just one “damned
air raid after another.’ One started in Paris at 9:45 p.m. and the bugles for
“Finis” sounded at 12:25 a.m. I was in my room when it began. Had just finished
a long letter to Dorothy. Went down in the lobby. People much more excited than
in London. Heard two or three bombs. Went out to see excitement but got lost in
Place de la Concorde and came back.
Weather
warm. Heavy fog.
In a first letter from Paris
dated March 11 to daughter Dorothy, he told her that he had already
begun to explore Paris:
Well here your Dad is in Paris! ... I
got here at half past ten last night .... The manager of our Paris office
...and I took a walk for an hour on one side of the Seine and down the other.
The lights are all out here because of air raid dangers but even in the dark
one could see that Paris is beautiful...
I am going out for a walk of two or three hours.
Returning
to the Hotel Crillon from that walk, Don Martin typewrote a second letter to Dorothy
dated March 11, with more about the glories of Paris.
.... I
have been in Paris less than 24 hours but I have already seen enough to
understand why it is called the most beautiful city in the world. ... The city
is just dotted with beautiful buildings each of which is of historical
interest. I walked around two or three hours this afternoon with the manager of
the Paris office of the Herald and he was able to point out many of the places.
We saw Notre Dame, the Hotel de Ville, the Chamber of Deputies, the Magdalene
Church or Cathedral, and walked all through the famous Latin Quarter. I sat on
the piazza of the Grand Hotel in the Rue de Capucines and drank a glass of
lemonade, and walked through the Rue de la Paix, the street which has all the
jewelry shops. I never saw anything like the displays. ...
I
started in by having the best breakfast I have had since I left New York. ... I
told [the waiter] I wanted breakfast – although it was lunch time -- and he
suggested an orange, filet of sole, fried potatoes and chocolate. It was all
fine. There is no sugar to be had here now. There is no milk served after 9 in
the morning. The orange was good and the chocolate was sweetened in some way so
it all tasted very good. But the cost is very high. My bill this morning was
$2.75 [$48 in today's dollars].
For
dinner I went with Mr. Price, the Paris manager, to the famous Prunier
restaurant. ... We telephoned to reserve a table. One has to do this because
the applicants for tables are so numerous. We had Portuguese oysters, roast
beef and potatoes, braised endive and a fancy chocolate pudding. The bill here
for two was about 25 francs, or slightly more than $6 [$106 in today's dollars]. Everything is high
everywhere in Paris because of the scarcity of everything.
... [The
Hotel Crillon], I find, is the very best hotel in Paris. Mr. Baker, Secretary
of War, is staying here now. General Pershing stayed here and all the diplomats
from most of the important countries stay here. It overlooks the Tuilleries and
is a magnificent building. ... Paris is filled with American soldiers. I must
have seen a thousand today.
There
was no sea at all on the trip across the channel so I was not sick. I enjoyed
the day in Havre. That is a very picturesque old city, with the principal
business street facing the harbor and sailing ships moored just across the
street from the stores. ...
With love,
Dad
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