Viewing page 26 of 46

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

a letter from the Consulate - but he was too busy till 7:30 - & that meant we couldn't drive back to E. [[strikethrough]] before [[/strikethrough]] in dark. We got it in time - couldn't drive with the Lodges - & had to get the car greased, & some gas cans. Cans are forbidden to sell now, but we found [[strikethrough]] a [[/strikethrough]] 3 little ones in Garage. I met Emmy Dick & her husband perchance, & she is sailing on Acquitania tomorrow. We wouldn't dare go on an English boat. I got a wire from Lisbon saying no word of Hammond boat, so they must have stopped at Azores.

My mail from Rome never arrived - so now it will have to be forwarded to U.S.A.

We packed & poured gas all night - & then Von Stroheim gave [[strikethrough]] us [[/strikethrough]] E & I a farewell bottle of champagne [[strikethrough]] till [[/strikethrough]] at midnight. He likes us & we like him. He is an Austrian Jew who has the guts to stay over here & fight for France. He is a real man. Micheal Farmer is going from bad to worse & is very fresh to me because he says I am 
[[margin]] so much like his former wife Gloria Swanson [[/margin]]

Sat. Sept 9.

We arose at Etretat at 5 A.M. & left for Paris at at 5:45. The idea was to decide (upon asking at the Italian line office for reservations) whether to go to Bordeaux or Italy. We arrived at 9:30 (all offices close at noon on Sat.) & were told we had to obtain a permit from the Police Dept in order to leave France - & that it would take 8 days.* We went to the make the Police Dept. & found a crushing mob of dirty smelly people looking for the same types of permits. People kept pushing ahead of us, & none of the [[strikethrough]] all [[/strikethrough]] authorities seemed to know what they were supposed to do with us. We waited 2 hours - growing faint & sick - & E & I were sure Loya couldn't stand it. Mean time the Ital. Office was closing , my passport got us the permit - & we reached the Ital. Office to find it reopened at 2:30 - so we had a sumptuous lunch in Café de Paix (!) - put a deposit