28 June, 1956 (Part 2)

I’ve saved Paris for last because it was the best. There, I had a marvelous time & made no bones about it. I even got a big charge out of Pigalle. The very first night we were there, we were stopped by a very pretty redhead in a fur coat. She was willing to take us all for 1,000 Francs apiece! Well!! That got things off to a rousing start. One of the three other guys kicked himself ever since for not accepting her offer.

In Paris, prostitution is taken as much for granted as the SUZE signs & the Eiffel Tower. Paris just wouldn’t be Paris without it.

In a restaurant we met Yvonne & Kitty. Kitty was heavy-set & spoke Spanish, so we got along beautifully until the time came when I had to decline an invitation to go dancing. Yvonne & Bob Schmall were getting along very well, too, & it was they who suggested the going someplace. Jim Bessette had run off to a movie with a Russian named Olga, who showed Jim a picture of her brother (in the Red Army) in front of the Kremlin. He endeared himself to her by yelling: "Yea, Bolsheviks! I’m a Bolshevik from way back" & drinking a toast to the Revolution—in vodka, of course.

It seems I am getting off the subject again. Good. I’ve grown tired of it all of a sudden, & there isn’t much more to tell anyhow. Maybe some other time…

Coutre & I have just been talking about our houses—the ones we’re going to have, that is. The more I think of my house, the more I am crazy about it & want it. Oh, well, someday I shall have the required amount of money. I know I want that house more than anything in the world (& surrounding areas).

Let’s speak of money now, for a moment—a topic which never ceases to fascinate me: As of the 1st, I will have $300 on the books. By the 15th I’ll have $350 on the books. With all the miscellaneous stuff I’ll gather, such as leave time, etc., I should come home with close to $500. School is about $300 a semester. Oh, well—anyway, I should have some money left.

Hooray! They have film on board again! How long it will last I don’t know, but I scraped enough change together to buy one roll. I have $29 loaned out, but aside from that, I’m broke.

Tomorrow we replenish (again)—at the cheery hour of 0600. Which means it is going to be one hell of a long day.

Every time I get my hands on a men’s magazine (Esquire, True) or any substantial mag with a fair degree of advertising, I paw through it eagerly, looking for the latest in men’s fashions. (I note they have practically done away with button shoes & spats. Oh, well.)

Coutre says hello, by the way. "Greetings, Salutations, & Know Ye…."

You know, there is nothing that gives a boost to the morale like a mail call—either a boost or a kick, depending on whether you get any or not. I like to hear from you both as often as possible, so write. Mother has been very good about it, but slips up occasionally, & dad could do much better. Also have Stormy drop a few lines every now & then.

Love

Roge

P.S. No mail will probably leave the ship till we get to Cannes, so you’ll get batches again. Envelopes will be dated until the stamps run out, then there’ll be a long silence.