february 6，1939

　　my sweet girls，

　　i wish so that you were here with us.thenext time we must surely bring you along，soremember to practice your manners and learn to eatall sorts of food.paris is full of children.thereare lots of parks，and every park is full of boys andgirls on bicycles and roller skates，or playingfootball and other games all day long.also，ithink everybody in paris has a dog，but none ofthem are as pretty as spangle.a beautiful river，the seine，runs right through the middle of thecity，and mummy and i have already counted 22bridges that cross it.don't you think that youcould have fun here？the french children are verypolite，as everyone is in france，and i am sure youwould enjoy playing with them；so，linell，youmust pay great attention to your french teacherand learn very fast，in order to be able tounderstand well when you come here.you mightteach i sabel some of what you learn，too.

　　there are many，many interesting things tosee here.paris is a very old city，and todaymummy and i saw a beautiful building， that wasstarted by the romans more than 1 600 years ago.it is called cluny.we have also been to thelouvre，a museum now full of the most beautifulpaintings and statues；but years ago the kings andqueens of france used to live there，until thefrench people got angry with them and choppedoff their heads.

　　this afternoon we went to a beautiful cathedral on an island in the middle of the river.itis called the cathedral of tre dame，whichmeans the cathedral of our lady the virgin.it ismore than 900 years old，and so high that you canhardly see the top.the windows are of gorgeousstained glass，red and blue and yellow and greenand purple，so that they cast light like a rainbowon the walls.a very good king of france who lived700 years ago and later became saint louis wasburied（from） there.tell delia that we offered acandle to the virgin mary for each of you there，and that we are bringing her back a rosary fromthere also.mummy and i climbed the tower later.we were very tired when we got to the top，but itwas interesting.some hideous stone gargoyles were looking right into our faces，so we lookeddown at paris lying at our feet，aud it wasbeautiful.we could see miles of river，and thebridges and the lovely old buildings.——it iswarmer here than at home，but sometimes the fogis so thick that even the taxi drivers get lost；lastnight three of them ran right off the street and intothe fountains on the rond point on the champselysees，which boppy can tell you about.it musthave been very damp and uncomfortable for thepassengers.

　　i think you would like the french trains.werode on one from le havre to paris just like theone that gaston et joséphine took when they wereleaving for america.when the engine whistles itsays tweet tweet instead of toot toot，and theporters are very polite.

　　yon would like the boat，too.there is a littletheatre where there are puppet shows for childrenevery afternoon，and there is plenty of room to runand play on the decks.sometimes，when the windblows hard and the sea is rough，the boat joggles alittle bit，but that is good fun，like being in aswing.on our trip there was a little girl only 14years old who is already famous because she playsthe violin so beautifully；her name is guila bustabo，and she played for us one night，at thegala concert，where everybody gave money to helpthe old sailors.french sailors have very pinkcheeks indeed，and speak very fast，and i don'tthink they ever get old.really，so i am not surewho got the money.

　　i must tell you that whenever you walk alongthe banks of the seine you see dozens of old menfishing with long，1ong poles.i don't think theyever catch anything，but they have a lovely timethinking about what they might catch justsupposing there were any fish there.we'll try itwhen you come here with us；perhaps we'll catchthe first fish ever to be caught there.

　　i adore you both，my darlings，

　　and don't forget me.

　　daddy

　　我可愛的女兒們：

　　我真希望你們能同我們一起在這里，下次我們一定把你們也帶來，所以你們要記住多學禮貌并學會吃各種類型的食物。巴黎有許多孩子，還有許多公園，而且每個公園整天都有許多男孩子和女孩子在騎自行車、滑旱冰，或者踢足球和玩其它的游戲。而且我覺得，盡管巴黎的每個人都有一條狗，但沒有一條狗像斯潘格那樣漂亮。美麗的塞納河正好從市中心穿過。我和你們的媽媽曾經數過，河上有22座橋。難道你們不覺得你們在這里會感到非常有趣嗎？就像每個法國人一樣，法國孩子非常有禮貌，我保證你們會非常喜歡與他們一起玩耍；所以，利內爾你必須多留心觀察你的法語教師，這樣就可以學得更快，以便你來這里后能更好地理解法文，你也可以教伊莎貝爾一些你所學到的東西。