Sunday September 7, 1930

Sunday morning was a free day. Josephine in all probably chose to go to Mass this morning. She had received a May 30, 1930 communication from Headquarters in Paris / American Pilgrimage Gold Star Mothers and Widows, which listed the churches in Paris she could attend.

Josephine indicated to her conducting officer the service she wanted to attend so that he could organize the bus service to take her and others to and from the service. Since there were so many in Josephine’s group, and their time in Paris was limited, they were requested to attend a service which would permit them to get back to the hotel in time for lunch, which was scheduled for 12:30 pm.

There were four churches listed that the pilgrims could choose to attend: one Protestant, one Christian Scientist, and two Catholic.

Josephine and other Catholics in her group either went to 10 am Mass at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, located at 50 Avenue Hoche, or 10 am High Mass at Madeleine Roman Catholic Church, Place de la Madeleine. (1)

Josephine's Journey hopes that Josephine chose to attend Mass at the Madeleine Roman Catholic Church, known as one of the finest churches in Paris; the musical part of the service was considered the most wonderful in all of Paris.

The church of Ste. Mary Magdalen was considered the most fashionable church in Paris. It is built in the style of a Roman Temple surrounded with a majestic Corinthian colonnade. Napoleon built it in 1806, intending it as a temple of Glory for the “Grande Armee.” The statue of St. Luke at the back of the church was decapitated by a shell from the “Bertha.” Instead of windows, all around the church are many niches containing statues of saints. The interior is lighted through the roof.

There were no pews at the Madeleine Church; chairs were used instead. In the Madeleine Church the floor was cobblestone, rather hard for kneeling as Josephine and those with her discovered.

Josephine and her companions returned to the hotel for lunch and then some free time in the afternoon. After dinner at the hotel, the group gathered to go on a 2-hour Paris sightseeing night tour (9 pm-11 pm). There would be no stops for the pilgrims to get off the bus on this trip – all the sights would be observed from the bus.

As they drove the streets and boulevards of Paris, the pilgrims passed some locations that were becoming recognizable to them because of their having passed them on earlier trips through Paris: the Place de la Concorde, the Place du Carrousel, the Place de L’Opera, the church of the Sacre Coeur (2), Notre Dame Cathedral and the Paris Notre Dame (the square in front of Notre Dame Cathedral), the Place de L’Hotel de Ville (the “Square of the Town Hall”), the Court de Justice.

They saw for the first time the Place Pigalle, the heart of the night life in Paris. Life starts here when the other portion of Paris has gone to bed. The rue Pigalle has, on both sides, a series of international cabarets: French, Spanish, Turkish, Japanese, Russian, to name a few.

Passing by the Madeleine Church where Josephine attended Mass this morning, perhaps Josephine and others who had attended Mass there told the other pilgrims on the bus who were seeing the church for the first time what they had observed about this church.

The bus passed over a bridge that crossed the Seine. The moon was shining beautifully on the water. The Paris bridges are picturesque, especially with the little steamers all lit up.

New sights for the pilgrims to see included:

• St. Gervais Church, which was bombarded by the Germans on Good Friday, 1918, during church services. Ninety one people were killed and over 200 wounded.
• “Theatre Sarah Bernhardt,” where the world famous French actress played until a few days before her death in 1923. In 1930, this theater was being managed by her son, Maurice Bernhardt.
• Place Saint Michel, considered as the beginning of the “Latin or Students’ quarters.

The pilgrims were excited to once again see the Eiffel Tower. (3) The pilgrims had observed the Eiffel Tower lit up the night they arrived in Paris on the boat train. The tower was illuminated three times a week: Sunday, Saturday, and Thursday. This tour was on a Sunday night so they got to see it illuminated once again.

The Eiffel Tower was built as a simple attraction for the world exhibition in 1889. It had proved to be very useful during the world war as a radio tower. In 1930, it gave the correct time to thousands of steamers twice a day.

Two other new sights for the pilgrims to see were the Trocadero (Hotel d’Iena), an imposing oriental-looking edifice built for the exhibition of 1878 and Place Victor Hugo with a large monument of the great French writer in the center.

The bus crossed the Avenue Foch, the widest and best avenue inhabited by the wealthiest families of Paris.
The night time tour of Paris came to an end when it passed by the Place de L’Etoile (Square of the Star) with the Arc de Triomphe (4) in the center and the Champs Elysees and the Hotel Carlton, with its marvelous chain of lights. The bus then returned back to its point of origin, the Place de la Concorde.

Paris at night – what a sight to see!

It had been a late night – it was almost midnight by the time the group returned to the hotel. Tomorrow will bring another interesting tour. No time to rest now – there will be plenty of time for rest and relaxation on the return voyage home.




Source: written by Carolyn Ourso