Scope and Contents

Handwritten letters in French sent to Blaess' parents. Letters relate to her studies, friendships, fellow residents at her boarding house and the situation in Paris including air raids and censorship.

Scope and Contents

Short note announcing her safe arrival at the beginning of her stay in Paris, after a long wait and a stormy sea. Post marked October 1939.

Scope and Contents Letter relating to Blaess' journey to Paris by boat and train and her first day in Paris. Includes description of the boat journey including her sea sickness, and descriptions of the views on the train to Paris. She mentions the censorship in the train stations - city names have been blacked out. She describes dining with a Madame Troussard upon her arrival as her aunt was not in. She describes meeting her academic supervisor [Professor Cohen] for the first time, who assumes she is American...

Scope and Contents Blaess announces that she is going to work with [Professor] Cohen, as discussed in the previous letter. She is a little disappointed that she doesn't have her thesis subject yet - she thought she would after her interview with him, but he insisted on her reading books and finding a subject she likes instead of doing one to please him. She underlines and insists that she really wants to finds an author she "burns" for. She recounts struggling to find anywhere to live for less than a thousand...

Scope and Contents Description of the view and contents of Blaess' bedroom in her new lodgings. [According to her address and the views she describes, her room is directly across the Luxembourg Gardens - in the students quarter in Paris]. She describes the new company she finds herself amongst, and that she wishes some of her fellow residents were younger. She recounts being exhausted by the new responsibilities of adult life with washing and shopping, as well as the many meetings with professors. ...

Scope and Contents Blaess has received letters from her parents and asks for updates on their lives in England as they have travelled from Bradford to Leeds. She has been trying to read the books she has been recommended and has visited the library and met new people, but has not had many developments since her previous letter. She also refers to a future journey she plans to take soon, and that she's avoiding her aunt until then but otherwise enjoying her independence. In a few of her letters, she uses...

Scope and Contents Description of the air raid sirens and chaos of the first alert and the rush of people leaving their houses in the middle of the night. Blaess is adamant that she was unafraid (she describes it as 'thrilling') and reflects a sense of excitement at the chaos rather than panic or fear. She mentions a few French systems ('DCA', 'TSF'). She emphasizes that not only did the sirens sound twice, but there were guards with trumpets, an official with a loud speaker in the street, and instructions...

Scope and Contents Blaess describes her life continuing as best as she can without too much concern for the war. She is preoccupied with how the conflict has affected her indirectly through the anxiety of others i.e. the disruption to her studies due to the library closing, and her professor delaying their interview three times. Despite another air raid alert, Blaess considers in detail her studies from which books she has to read to where she wants to continue her education. She insists on learning Celtic and...

Scope and Contents Blaess writes that she has been too preoccupied with working to write much. She writes about her thesis, and the research and reading she is undertaking, and that she's been learning Celtic. She hasn't complied with the instructions about the library and has been reading and borrowing books she shouldn't. She asks her parents to buy books in England for her and talks about the cost of it. She mentions the flea market which she found disappointing, and also the cold weather and new alerts....

Scope and Contents Blaess writes that she has been trying to get hold of an English visa but been unsuccessful so far. Blaess also admits being told to return home by one of her professors yet she deems that as long as she works hard it should not interest her teachers what she does with her holidays. Cohen - her thesis advisor- strongly disapproves and almost threatens and demands she stays in Paris. She does contemplate going away anyway but without a visa this would be difficult. She reports than a...

Scope and Contents Blaess explains that she cannot return home for Christmas as she is being refused an English visa to travel. The reason they give is that they are worried about an underwater German attack. Only those on 'urgent business' are permitted visas at this point, and even the English soldiers could not return home. Blaess is also anxious about Christmas present shopping. She wonders what she will get her cousin Yolande. She describes her cousin Yolande's birthday celebrations, and attending the...

Scope and Contents Blaess writes that she may soon be able to get hold of a visa, and that if she is successful she will return to England and send them a telegram from London. She is uncertain as to when she will arrive to see her parents but writes that if she is not there by the 25th, the likelihood is she will not be coming at all. She has made arrangements to spend Christmas in France with her aunt as a back up in case she cannot make it back to England. Blaess has been busy shopping but is shocked by the...

Scope and Contents Blaess writes that she had delayed writing to her parents as she been hopeful that she would in fact make it to England. The bureau for the English visas had said initially that they would grant her one if she presented her French visa. And yet when she went to collect this it was declared impossible as they would have to wait a further ten days, and kept delaying her. Blaess also describes the mounting pressure put upon her to leave the country by others, but that even if she wanted to this...

Scope and Contents Blaess explains she spent Christmas in Paris with her aunt and Yolande, instead of Orgeval, because Yolande was able to come to Paris in the end. Her and Yolande then went to Orgeval. During her holidays, she slept in until 9am, went to the cinema, describes the nativity scene Yolande brought and the perm she had done, as well as the snowy landscape. 22 centimetres of snow covered the fields and gardens, and they played with snowballs. She asks for her parents to have 22 candles on her next...

Scope and Contents Blaess is back in Paris - she is happy about all the letters her parents had sent her and that were waiting at the boarding house. But she reveals that her letter from Orgeval had been read by others before sending, and that it wasn't honest because she could not be free to write whatever she wanted. She admits her Christmas was very sad - the saddest she ever had- and did not feel like Christmas at all. She then repeats details of her walks in the snow with Yolande from her previous letter...

Scope and Contents Blaess is sorry because she hasn't written to her parents for ten days as she has been very busy with work. She thanks her parents for their presents and their letters. She says she has been to the opera with Norah as planned, and also the weather was rainy, so when they visited a dog cemetery it was slippery and very sad. She prefers her room/lodgings to Norah's. She is getting settled little by little, buying furniture etc, because she prefers drawing out the pleasure, whereas Norah's is...

Scope and Contents Blaess updates her parents on the weather and her everyday life. She says it's colder in Paris than in the rest of the country (-12 degrees) and describes how she dresses for the cold weather. As a result, the pipes are frozen, there is no heating, nor water. She updates her parents on the rest of the week: Sunday, Orgeval; Sunday night, aunt sick at the restaurant... She mentions opening a bank account - her aunt apparently didn't want her to. She soon will have her library card for the...

Scope and Contents Blaess complains about the lack of letters from her parents - they are always delayed by the post office. She likes her friendship with the other Celtic student (a + 50 year old man) but complains about his age - she seems to only be friends with men that are more than fifty and finds it too old to find a husband in them as she's only 21. She mentions "grand père Louis", translating as "grand father Louis", her grandfather whom she will visit later. Blaess talks about Dédé, and her aunt...

Scope and Contents Blaess asks her parents for advice about bank accounts - she wants to open one but doesn't know which bank to chose from (also, she doesn't want her aunt to know about it). She gives news about Yolande and the rest of the family, as well as her own influence on Yolande's sense of fashion - she thinks she is a great influence as aunt now buys Yolande manicures, and the same gloves and coats. Yolande now has a gramophone. Blaess thinks her German course is really easy but doesn't want to...

Scope and Contents Blaess wishes her mother a Happy Birthday and insists on sending her tons of love and hugs. She updates them on 'Grand père's' health (probably her grand father) and the rest of the family's. Everybody send them love. She find her grandpa well. She likes the way he is treated and thinks the woman taking care of him is well. Blaess recounts that this woman was able to discern her and Yolande's characters by looking at them (Yolande is easily offended, loving, will be unhappy, good at...