1938 TRIP TO FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND February 6, 2004 Apparently the next day, November 28, 1938, Daddy and the rest of the metallurgists traveled to Annecy, France, where I can only assume they continued to say for a period of time. Either they continued to take notes about the process of the blast furnace in Annecy or they commuted by train back and forth to Geneva a few miles to the northeast. So far I haven't found any evidence in the scrapbook yet that indicates even what hotel they stayed at or how long they stayed in Annecy before they traveled back to Paris. However, there is postcard after postcard, mostly in color under Daddy's title above of "Annecy et Son Lac" [Annecy and his Lake-by the same name, Lake Annecy]. There are beautiful scenes of the lake, centuries-old palaces, chateaux, mountains of the eastern Swiss Alps, steamboats of the era on the lake, canals in Annecy, magnificent hotels that must have spread over acres, and some cards with a view of snow-capped Mont Blanc in the distance. I have a feeling that the men did have an opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing, as there are several postcards of the Camonix Valley in the Monte Blanc range of the Alps. There are scenes of glaciers, scenes of VERY rugged mountains and many scenes of Mont Blanc. In addition there are a few views of what appears to be the small village of Moriond in the French Alps. The scenes show small plain one-story chalets with snow piled high on their roofs and with just a very narrow snow-covered path between the houses. Moriond is just south of Moutiers which is south of Annecy which is south of Geneva. There are several views of Moutiers which indicates they visited there also. As I recall, Daddy personally told us he actually saw Mont Blanc and was near the mountain. Over the past few days I've done a lot of studying of maps that I have at hand as to precisely where Daddy was in France and Switzerland and when I saw that Annecy was in the Haute Savoie Department of southeastern France, I quickly mentally translated it to High Savoy in spite of my having only an inkling of the French language. But it was the word "Savoy" that caught my eye. I had remembered that many long years ago my mother told me that the French dolls that my father brought back for my sister and me (and my mother) were in the typical costume of area of Savoy. And as I continued to turn each page of Daddy's scrapbook, I stopped quickly when I came across a whole page of postcards in color showing men and women dressed in the old costumes of Savoy. When I saw the picture of one of the Savoyan women in costume I recognized her immediately. She looked just like the doll my father brought back for me from France. The same sort of odd gold head dress, the fringed colorful pure silk shawl around her shoulders, the gold cross on a chain around her neck against her white blouse, and with her long velvet skirt covered with a different patterned velvet apron across the front of it. On [Thursday] December 1, 1938, Daddy sent Mother another letter on Hotel Scribe, Paris, stationery. From what he spoke of in the letter it appears that they were spending a few days in the French Alps area. From the postmark, he apparently was staying in Ugine which is just south of Mont Blanc which is just south of Annecy. He wrote: Dear Verna, We have arrived in a beautiful little valley set between high mountain peaks. In fact, it is almost surrounded by mountains. Will be here until Monday or Tuesday [December 5th or 6th] and then back to Paris. We may sail for home much sooner than expected as our work is progressing very satisfactorily. We were tied up yesterday, Wednesday, by the General Strike. The strike was a fizzle but we could not visit any plants while it threatened. Spent the day sightseeing and shopping in Annecy. Bought the kids each a Savoyan doll and you a [beautiful silk paisley] shawl. Also bought myself a matched pair of 17th Century Italian pistols (guns). They are very nice. I bought a third doll for emergencies. Still have to get George Lindberg his picture and Aunt Helen her perfume. Also must get the gang at the plant something. [I'm inserting a note here. Both Mother and Daddy studied French for several years in high school but I believe that when Daddy went to France sixteen years after they both graduated from high school, I doubt that he had the opportunity to even practice the language with the exception of when he and Mother wanted to say something very personal in front of my sister and me. He continues.] Am learning a lot of French. That is, I can understand almost everything that is said but can't think of the words I want to use. But we get along. Earl went into one shop and talked to an old lady there. She spouted off a whole string of French which neither of us understood. Earl told her in Spanish and German that he did not understand and then he turned and asked me to try to tell her that he did not understand. She then said, "Oh you speak English?" And then spoke very good English. The only language Earl didn't try on her. Earl says time to eat again so au revoir. Charly Vee's note here: Whoa, wait a minute! I just took one last glance at the many, many postcards in the scrapbook and when I read the small print at the bottom of one and saw that it read, "Ugine-Les Acieries Electriques et Habitations Ouvrieres" and then took a second look at the scene, it seemed like all of the missing pieces of the puzzle had just fallen into place. What with the word "Electriques" (as in electrical metallurgical blast furnace] and the view of what was obviously an industrial plant with a number of nice looking houses on the outskirts for the employees, for the very first time I realized that it was in Ugine where Daddy and the other metallurgists had been studying the operation and process of the new French furnace all along. In other words, when they left Paris they stopped in Geneva, Switzerland, probably to sit in on a one-day high-level conference of what they could expect and then traveled to Annecy where they stayed in a hotel. Then on a daily basis took the short trips to Ugine where they could actually PERSONALLY view and take notes of the ground breaking new technology of the ferroalloys industry from the first shovel full into the furnace to the final tap of the furnace. So with that last piece of the puzzle in place, I now can visualize almost precisely Daddy's trip to France and where that new French furnace was actually located. It was located (quoting Daddy) "in a beautiful little valley set between high mountain peaks. In fact, it is almost surrounded by mountains." After considerable research on the Internet, it appears that the plant is still vital to the industry and it appears (in French) to have been a vital target for the Nazis during WWII a few years later. It's taken 65 years to finally put those pieces together and you have no idea how overwhelming and fulfilling the feeling is. Now I know where Daddy was and where his French furnace was.

Vee, how great it is that you were able to figure out so closely where your father's trip took him. I can understand why you have such a sense of accomplishment. That was really a puzzle! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vee L. Housman" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, February 06, 2004 9:43 PM Subject: [FOLKS] Father's 1938 trip to Europe Pt. 7 > 1938 TRIP TO FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND > > February 6, 2004 > > Apparently the next day, November 28, 1938, Daddy and the rest of the metallurgists traveled to Annecy, France, where I can only assume they continued to say for a period of time. Either they continued to take notes about the process of the blast furnace in Annecy or they commuted by train back and forth to Geneva a few miles to the northeast. > > So far I haven't found any evidence in the scrapbook yet that indicates even what hotel they stayed at or how long they stayed in Annecy before they traveled back to Paris. However, there is postcard after postcard, mostly in color under Daddy's title above of "Annecy et Son Lac" [Annecy and his Lake-by the same name, Lake Annecy]. There are beautiful scenes of the lake, centuries-old palaces, chateaux, mountains of the eastern Swiss Alps, steamboats of the era on the lake, canals in Annecy, magnificent hotels that must have spread over acres, and some cards with a view of snow-capped Mont Blanc in the distance. > > I have a feeling that the men did have an opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing, as there are several postcards of the Camonix Valley in the Monte Blanc range of the Alps. There are scenes of glaciers, scenes of VERY rugged mountains and many scenes of Mont Blanc. In addition there are a few views of what appears to be the small village of Moriond in the French Alps. The scenes show small plain one-story chalets with snow piled high on their roofs and with just a very narrow snow-covered path between the houses. Moriond is just south of Moutiers which is south of Annecy which is south of Geneva. There are several views of Moutiers which indicates they visited there also. As I recall, Daddy personally told us he actually saw Mont Blanc and was near the mountain. > > Over the past few days I've done a lot of studying of maps that I have at hand as to precisely where Daddy was in France and Switzerland and when I saw that Annecy was in the Haute Savoie Department of southeastern France, I quickly mentally translated it to High Savoy in spite of my having only an inkling of the French language. But it was the word "Savoy" that caught my eye. I had remembered that many long years ago my mother told me that the French dolls that my father brought back for my sister and me (and my mother) were in the typical costume of area of Savoy. And as I continued to turn each page of Daddy's scrapbook, I stopped quickly when I came across a whole page of postcards in color showing men and women dressed in the old costumes of Savoy. > > When I saw the picture of one of the Savoyan women in costume I recognized her immediately. She looked just like the doll my father brought back for me from France. The same sort of odd gold head dress, the fringed colorful pure silk shawl around her shoulders, the gold cross on a chain around her neck against her white blouse, and with her long velvet skirt covered with a different patterned velvet apron across the front of it. > > On [Thursday] December 1, 1938, Daddy sent Mother another letter on Hotel Scribe, Paris, stationery. From what he spoke of in the letter it appears that they were spending a few days in the French Alps area. From the postmark, he apparently was staying in Ugine which is just south of Mont Blanc which is just south of Annecy. He wrote: > > Dear Verna, > > We have arrived in a beautiful little valley set between high mountain peaks. In fact, it is almost surrounded by mountains. Will be here until Monday or Tuesday [December 5th or 6th] and then back to Paris. We may sail for home much sooner than expected as our work is progressing very satisfactorily. > > We were tied up yesterday, Wednesday, by the General Strike. The strike was a fizzle but we could not visit any plants while it threatened. Spent the day sightseeing and shopping in Annecy. Bought the kids each a Savoyan doll and you a [beautiful silk paisley] shawl. Also bought myself a matched pair of 17th Century Italian pistols (guns). They are very nice. I bought a third doll for emergencies. Still have to get George Lindberg his picture and Aunt Helen her perfume. Also must get the gang at the plant something. > > [I'm inserting a note here. Both Mother and Daddy studied French for several years in high school but I believe that when Daddy went to France sixteen years after they both graduated from high school, I doubt that he had the opportunity to even practice the language with the exception of when he and Mother wanted to say something very personal in front of my sister and me. He continues.] > > Am learning a lot of French. That is, I can understand almost everything that is said but can't think of the words I want to use. But we get along. Earl went into one shop and talked to an old lady there. She spouted off a whole string of French which neither of us understood. Earl told her in Spanish and German that he did not understand and then he turned and asked me to try to tell her that he did not understand. She then said, "Oh you speak English?" And then spoke very good English. The only language Earl didn't try on her. > > Earl says time to eat again so au revoir. > > Charly > > Vee's note here: Whoa, wait a minute! I just took one last glance at the many, many postcards in the scrapbook and when I read the small print at the bottom of one and saw that it read, "Ugine-Les Acieries Electriques et Habitations Ouvrieres" and then took a second look at the scene, it seemed like all of the missing pieces of the puzzle had just fallen into place. What with the word "Electriques" (as in electrical metallurgical blast furnace] and the view of what was obviously an industrial plant with a number of nice looking houses on the outskirts for the employees, for the very first time I realized that it was in Ugine where Daddy and the other metallurgists had been studying the operation and process of the new French furnace all along. > > In other words, when they left Paris they stopped in Geneva, Switzerland, probably to sit in on a one-day high-level conference of what they could expect and then traveled to Annecy where they stayed in a hotel. Then on a daily basis took the short trips to Ugine where they could actually PERSONALLY view and take notes of the ground breaking new technology of the ferroalloys industry from the first shovel full into the furnace to the final tap of the furnace. > > So with that last piece of the puzzle in place, I now can visualize almost precisely Daddy's trip to France and where that new French furnace was actually located. It was located (quoting Daddy) "in a beautiful little valley set between high mountain peaks. In fact, it is almost surrounded by mountains." > > After considerable research on the Internet, it appears that the plant is still vital to the industry and it appears (in French) to have been a vital target for the Nazis during WWII a few years later. > > It's taken 65 years to finally put those pieces together and you have no idea how overwhelming and fulfilling the feeling is. Now I know where Daddy was and where his French furnace was. > >