Tag: Maginot Line

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I Was Looking Forward to a Quiet Old Age

They say that revolutions are for the young. That’s probably a truism when you look at the French Revolution and even to contemporary ones like Egypt’s “Arab Spring.” It may also apply to resistance movements during periods of conflict. When one studies the French Resistance during the German Occupation, it becomes clear very quickly that most resistance members are young (thirty-five or younger).

Etta Shiber. Photo by anonymus (c. 1943). From the book Paris-Underground.
Etta Shiber. Photo by anonymus (c. 1943). From the book Paris-Underground.

That is until you meet Etta Shiber, a 62-year old widow and former Manhattan housewife, who lived in Paris with her best friend before and during the Occupation—with the exception of the time she spent in a Gestapo prison.

Did You Know?

After nearly 600 years in England, a medieval ring belonging to Joan of Arc was returned to France. On the eve of her execution in May 1413, she gave the ring to an English cardinal. Throughout the centuries it was bought and sold multiple times. On 4 March 2016, it came back to France after an organization successfully bid $425,000 at auction. Reportedly, there is sufficient documentation to authenticate the ring as belonging to Joan.

Kitty

Etta and her husband traveled to Paris every year for a three-month stay. While there in 1925, she met Kitty who was to become her best friend. Kitty Beaurepos, the daughter of a London banker, was an English society woman who married young. Moving to Italy, she and her husband had a son but shortly after, her first husband passed away and Kitty moved to Paris. She married a Frenchman but then amicably separated. Kitty eventually opened a small dress shop on Rue Rodier where she catered to Americans and this is where the two women met.

Every year on her annual trip to Paris, Etta would call on Kitty. In 1933, Etta traveled to Paris without her husband but did take her ill brother. Irving became so ill that Kitty had to bring in the best medical help that Paris had to offer. Alas, it wasn’t enough and Irving died (he was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery). William Shiber died three years later leaving Etta a widow. Kitty invited her to move to Paris and live with her at 2, rue Balny d’Avricourt in one of Paris’s more exclusive neighborhoods (near the Arc de Triomphe). Read More I Was Looking Forward to a Quiet Old Age

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A Pre-War Paris Lesbian Nightclub

Exterior entrance to the former Le Monocle nightclub. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Exterior entrance to the former Le Monocle nightclub. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).

For those of you familiar with Paris, you know that the Left Bank is considered more cutting edge today than the Right Bank. If you lived in Paris during the 1920s and the 1930s, the avant-garde scene would have been on the Right Bank. In particular, the Montmartre and the Pigalle districts (18e) were heavily populated with artists, bohemians, and a strong gay community. However, the Left Bank was home to the first and most popular lesbian nightclub in Paris. Located at 60, Boulevard Edgar Quinet in the Montparnasse (14e) district, Le Monocle opened its doors in the 1920s. Our story today isn’t so much about the nightclub as it is one of its most infamous patrons.

Lulu and Tuxedos

Young invert at Le Monocle, 1932 (it is believed to be a photo of Lulu). Photo by George Brassaï (c. 1932).
Young invert at Le Monocle, 1932 (it is believed to be a photo of Lulu). Photo by George Brassaï (c. 1932).

The first owner of Le Monocle was Lulu. She set the style of dress for the club over the next twenty years. Lulu’s club attracted women who liked to dress up in tuxedos (and men’s suits), cut their hair short, and for added effect, wear monocles (ergo, the name of the club). In fact, women would wear a monocle in public to announce their sexual orientation.

The nightclub was shut down in 1940 after the Germans invaded France. Gay men and women were targeted by the Nazis for detention, deportation, and ultimately, elimination. The building where the club was located is still in existence. You enter through the original entrance which is shaped in a circle–it was meant to imitate a monocle. I’m not too sure what is behind the doors, as the exterior needs a lot of paint. But the awning still advertises a bar and café. I think it’s still called Le Monocle but Sandy and I will stop by on our next trip to Paris and see what happens. Read More A Pre-War Paris Lesbian Nightclub