Their straw hats and bare legs, their Normandy nurses, with enormous head-dresses, blue for a boy and pink for a girl, were, of the sights of Paris, one of the most familiar.

And when the children vanished they left a dreary wilderness.

You could look for a mile, from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe, and not see a child.

The stalls, where they bought hoops and skipping-ropes, the flying wooden horses, Punch- and-Judy shows, booths where with milk they refreshed themselves and with bonbons made themselves ill, all were deserted and boarded up.
The closing down of the majority of the shops and hotels was not due to a desire on the part of those employed in them to avoid the Germans, but to get at the Germans.
On shop after shop are signs reading: "The proprietor and staff are with the colors," or "The personnel of this establishment is mobilized," or "Monsieur------informs his clients that he is with his regiment." In the absence of men at the front, Frenchwomen, at all times capable and excellent managers, have surpassed themselves.

In my hotel there were employed seven women and one man.