Dear Folks also 828-

I won’t be able to write this evening and did want to write today and tell you about my trip to Paris and also to let you know about my new address. Should get our mail through faster now.

I and three others went to Paris last Sat. and got there in the evening. Spent most of the evening getting lost and getting our hotel assignments. There wasn’t a thing open that night as the city was paying its respects to the President.^[1]President Franklin D. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945. Sun. morning we took a Red Cross motor tour through the city and saw all the sites of interest. It was really interesting and Paris hadn’t been changed hardly at all. The Cathedral of Notre Dames seemed to me the most remarkable when you consider that it was started in the year 1163 and completed in 1235. It is really very beautiful. Alot of the statues in the city were removed by the Germans to make guns out of. They have Nap. son’s coffins in the same building with Nap I now. Hitler sent it back to Paris as a present to the city from Austria where it had been and whereas before they would not return it. I would hate to open the thing as it is probably booby trapped.

In the afternoon we went to the “Folies Bergere” which you have probably heard of. I wasn’t bery impressed as a burlesque in the states is just as good. We walked all over the city and rode the subway the rest of the time, in Paris the subway is the “Metro.” It seems that Paris has been the least effected by the war as any city I’ve seen. However, there is a food shortage and we are not allowed to eat in a civilian restaurant – permitted to buy some things. However, it being Sun. none of the stores were open. Wish they had have been so I could send you all something. I have been through Reims and hope to go there again soon and do some shopping as it seemed like a nice place. I probably won’t be able to send much of anything as nothing you get is very good. At least I’ll try to get something to you from France. We had to leave early Mon. morning out of Paris on the train and it was alot nicer than the one we came up here on.

This afternoon Mort Blaisdell came over and we went out and practiced up on our .45 gun shooting. We can both stand alot more practice.

Hope all of you are OK and hope to see you soon.

With love,

Tom.