Item 04: Walter Bruce Rainsford diary, 3 January 1917-31 December 1917 - Page 96

[Page 96]

especially wines, are cheaper. While I was there the supplies of cigarettes, tobacco and matches ran right out and notices to this effect were placed in shop windows. There is a scarcity of the weed throughout France. Matches are a government monopoly.

At 4 p.m. on Monday, 10th I said goodbye to my friends at the Railway Station and in three hours time arrived at Lyon. I did not leave for Paris until 10 pm so was able to see some of the town by night. The broad streets, fine statuary, tinkling trams, glittering cafés and the big shops made an impression on me – there was no war here. British khaki was conspicuous by its absence. Plenty of French, naturally, and also a few Americans.

The following morning I arrived in Paris at 8.30. My train companions were all French, one of whom being a smartly dressed young militaire who much bemoaned his fate at being a common or garden cook in a motor column or something when he asked to get his pilot's certificate in the Flying Corps. His people seemed to be rather big hits in Lyon and he was probably a pampered son. I left my pack & greatcoat at the British Club in the Place de la