Cocks letter diary, 1916-1919 / Verner Cocks - Page 566

[Page 566]

Valines,
France,
 €‹12/2/19

Dear Dad,

Have just arrived back from Paris.   I didn't have leave I just took four days with two other chaps and we got on O.K.   There are many chaps who have not seen Paris and it is a case of now or never.   Proper leave it practically impossible and if anyone is keen on seeing the place you have to clear out and chance the result.   Of course lots of things are overlooked and one is pretty safe.   Paris is easily 100 miles from here and it is the easiest thing on earth to get there by train by travelling by night to avoid the military police who are on the station.   The trains are the slackest things I know and one can almost travel all over France without a ticket or pass.   In the military one learns to be a schemer and by a bit of scheming and dodging one can board and get off trains and platforms easily.   Just outside Paris we hopped off the train and got out by a side street.   You have probably heard of a Miss Rout by reading the bulletin. She is a NZ lady who helps soldiers in trouble in Paris. We visited her & she put us on the train coming home. It cost us 2 francs each for train fares to Paris & return. Miss Rout is a remarkable woman quite a dinkum digger & she says she is going to see that all the diggers see Paris before they go home officially or unofficially. She meets every train either to get soldiers off or on the station who haven't passes & she knows just how to do it. This time Paris was under snow & looked rather desolate compared to the time we were there before. I saw several new things that I missed last time but my duty was to act as guide & interpreter to the two other chaps. The most wonderful thing in Paris just now I think is the famous war picture. It is in the form of a cyclorama of the present war conceived by two artists at the start & carried out by themselves & seventeen others. It has taken four years to paint & contains about 2000 personages. Each allied nation is represented by a group of their famous men. France occupies the main position & then England has the finest group. The main point in the picture is a figure of victory & from the background which is the landscape from Ypres to Verdin the armies of the allies are marching towards this statue  to be crowned with victory as they march past. All the main towns are painted in the landscape & named. Many are shown burning and in ruins.   The wonderful part about the whole thing is that while it is painted on a flat wall it looks miles deep. Every road & river is painted in & along all the roads you can distinguish transport guns & men - marching in. Opposite the figure of Victory is the mausoleum  to the dead with the veiled figure of a woman kneeling on the steps. The sterescopic  effect is marvellous. England is represented by figures of the King, Prince of Wales, Lloyd George, Haig, French - about 50 in all of the great men & the other countries are represented similarly.

With the aid of a little french & a few francs too I was able to gain admission to the inside the Hotel de Ville - this has been closed to everyone since the war. The tapestries & the Salon des Fetes are the main features here and are magnificent. Also went to a grand opera & paraded the Grand Marble stairase & the Foyer. The Foyer is where the ladies parade at intervals to show their dresses. With great chandeliers lit  and the architectural beauty of the place it is wonderful. Also visited the palace of the old kings at Versailles - this is perhaps the most gorgeous palace in the world and I don't doubt it. All these things are indescribable  and must be seen. The more I see of them the more I like to impress on you that they are worth a life time waiting to see. Paris is full of captured guns. The Arc de Triomphe  and the Champs Elyssees [Elysees] & the Place de la Concorde are full of them. I took many photos but the weather was unfavourable. However Kodaks in London have them in hand now & they ought to make a good job of them. The weather here is cold but sunny. Snow has fallen but the sun is not hot enough to thaw it.

Latest rumour is that the first draught from the 3rd Divvy leaves for England on 27th inst. There we will get 14 days leave which Jack and I are going to try  and spend in Nice  and Monte Carlo. I will be quite satisfied to come home then. From the A.M.C. camp at Fovant we will be allotted to boats - any boats at all carrying soldiers wives, Munition workers or soldiers.   About 20 to each boat.   So there is not much chance of many of us coming home together let alone the whole unit.

In Paris I went to a dance at the British Club and had a great time.   I played some dances for them.   Walking through Notre Dame I

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