In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

AMERICANS IN PARIS
"Six delightful days at sea ... then Paris. The luxury of incomparable
cuisine and service on the Paris and France adds six more days of Paris
to your travels! These deluxe French liners sail to Plymouth, England,
... then to Le Havre, where a special train is waiting to carry you to
Paris in three hours. The one-class cabin liners go direct to Le Havre, the
Port of Paris. Distances are short in France: the Riviera is just an overnight
trip from Paris, ... while North Africa is but a day's voyage across
the Mediterranean. The New York-Bordeaux-Vigo Service will take you
to the unusual beauty of southern France and Spain." As if to prove how
much transatlantic traveling is in vogue [see Ocean Liners], the "Social
Notes" in the September 21 issue of the New York Times echo this
advertisement for the French Line with abundant references to members
of high society departing for or coming back from Europe: "Mrs.
S. Stanwood Menken and Arthur Menken are expected to arrive today
after spending two months in Europe." "Mr. and Mrs. Harold Irving
Pratt and Miss Eleanor Pratt of Welwyn, Glen Cove, L.I., will sail for
Europe today." In an article of July 25, the Parisian correspondent for
the Berliner Morgenpost is certainly right in interpreting this "flood" of
Americans coming to the capital of France as "a consequence of inflation."
Together with the continuing strength of the American economy,
the crisis of the franc makes Europe accessible even for those whose
names will never appear in the society column of any newspaper.
But why has it become an authentic social obligation, if not an obses-
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