The war in Algeria had just ended. It was the first peaceful 14th of July, le quatorze Juillet since before World War II. Paris was about to go into what ESQUIRE a few years later called its "Eisenhower years," a time of peacetime consumerism and not a lot of culture.
I felt that 2 years later and that was why I finally left. The most popular show in 1964 was "Comment Reussir Dans les Affaires Sans Vraiment se Fatiguer!" which translates as "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying!" So much for La Culture Francaise.
There were a lot of soldiers just back from the war in Algeria, and on this train to Antibes, which was really crowded. People were sleeping in the vestibules.
When I got to Antibes, it was surprisingly familiar to this Southern California boy: oleanders, lantanas, all the flowers and the climate of Southern California.
I hadn’t been home to California for a year and it looked like California with 1000 years of history. The people too reminded me of L.A. -- beautiful sunny people.
— Bob Schulenberg |
