Thomas Brown (1963)

I remember being astonished that, at age 12, I could buy "sexy" books that adults in the US couldn't read b/c they were banned.  One was a "travelers companion" series of paperbacks.  Paris felt so sexually liberated (in the extreme) compared to the US. Nude beaches were novel, to say the least, for a young American teen.  It took a while to feel comfortable.  As someone else mentioned, hanging out in Pigalle (no touching) was a blast.  Also, my parents took me to some of the "reviews", such as the Lido and Moulon Rouge.  Wonder what long-term effects this pervasive sexuality had on a teen brain.  Have my theory.  BTW, the psychological effects of being a "brat" have been investigated.   But, there have been no studies of being a brat in Paris.  Could be an interesting retrospective.  Not sure what the appropriate control group would be.

Thomas Brown (1963)

Robert, Thanks for graphic description.  What a change since my last visit to Paris in 2000!  For vacationers, what would be your 2nd favorite city in France today?  BTW, years ago , I went to Budapest for a scientific meeting.  It reminded me in many ways of Paris during our PAHS days. 

William Higgins (1970)

Really enjoying reading everyone's recollections of what for me, at least was the most wonderful of times and wide range of experiences in Paris as a yute.  I was there for grades 6-8 '62 until '66 - long bus ride from St. Germain to Garches daily, us "little kids" worshiped the high schoolers on the bus (yay bus #30) which we were proud to declare the oldest most decrepit bus in the fleet.  You could lift up the seat and see the road through the rusted out floorboards.  Anyway, I recall tuning into AFN that day in 1963 when President Kennedy was shot.  We were half a world away, our commander in chief was shot dead and none of us had any idea why. Taps at CDL was particularly sad in the following days.

On another subject, does any but me retrace their travels around Paris via Google Street View?  I can waste a lot of time doing so.  Most of St. Germain looks like it did, back when.  Makes me want to go in and get a stick of warm fresh bread and eat it all.

David Daniels (1963)

I have some old "Pirate's Log" newsletters. Would anyone want to see them? If so, is there a spot on here for archives?  I've scanned them to my computer, but would love to share them if anyone wants to see them. 

Also have loads of pictures of the 2015 reunion in Paris. I believe I moved them all over to Snapfish. I will look for them and see how/if I can post them. 

Karen and I are planning to come to the reunion in September, so if nothing else, I can bring them there.

Bart Bartlett (1957)

David: Thank you for posting your comment in the Pirate Chat. Glad to learn that you and your wife will be with us in September for our reunion. I am sure you know that on the second day in Paris we are planning to make a vist to our old school which is now the American School of Paris (ASP).

They have asked us to provide pictures, video and other memorabilia which they intend to use as a collage and as a background to our presentation to the student body on "What it was like to be an American Teenager in Paris in the 50's & 60's.

I have been tasked to assemble these items and would absolutely love to have copies of photos or other items that you might care to provide. Please send me what ever you might wish to contribute in .jpeg format if possible. You can send them to me at bartbartlett3@att.net. I look forward to meeting you and your wife. I realize that I am of a class year a tad earlier than you (1957), however, my wife attended PAHS in 1966 & 1967 before the school closed. Bart Bartlett

Carl Yorke

I was a card carrying member of the Paris American Youth Activities Assn.!

Bart Bartlett (1957)

Carl: Thanks for posting this great picture. Is it possible that you could send this to me at bartbartlett3@att.net? I also posted a note on your profile page regarding other photos you may wish to share.

Jim A. Smales (1958)

I absolutely loved Paris when I was there with my parents in 1955-1958.  Spent all my free time running around the city.  Loved going to the stamp market in Paris.  I returned to France in 1963 and lived in a small village near Laon Air Base named Couvron.  Before i left in 1967 the town named a street after me for all the work I did for the community.  I'll be 83 on the 12th of April.  Hope to return to France at least one more time and visit the Paris American High School.

Randall Bowie (1962)

Nice vignette, Robert. Thanks for posting it. If you haven't already considered it, maybe you should consider a book on your time in Paris. I believe it would be a good read.

Michael Oberbeck (1967)

Paul Hughes (1968)

Hi Mike...Yep..been back many times over the years with last time just 10 months ago....Petit is indeed exactly the same however surrounds have grown dramaticlaly...Just have to watch out for curious Gendarmes as you walk around !!!!

John (Jack) Florio (1966)

You can file this one under “stupid teenagers”.  A vaguely recall walking near school on Rue Pasteur with a small group of friends (~1963).  I’m pretty sure it wasn’t during school hours and don’t think alcohol was involved.  Traffic was fairly non-existent.  Participants shall remain nameless because either I’m a nice guy or I can’t remember.  For some reason, the girls decided it would be fun to do a little line can-can in the street.  Just as a Citroen full of Gendarmes came down the road.  They pulled over & rolled down the windows.  The guys gave their best Parisian shrug and said “Elles sont des Americains…”  Fortunately they drove off laughing.

Paul Hughes (1968)

Ahhhh...the CID Boys!!!!....had a few "visits" to the Chateau Bel Manoir aka CID HQ behind the PX myself!!!...any other members of the Claude Jones Gang still about ????!!!!

Lynette Johnson (Van Sickle) (1961)

Hi,    My Dad served at the Central Purchasing Office in Paris, 1958-61. I graduated from PAHS in '61.  I've never had a chance to go back so it now seems like just a pleasant dream.  I enrolled at Ole Miss for college since Dad was stationed there with the ROTC.  Now I've lived back in my home state of Tennessee for 50+ years.   

Phil Davidson (1960)

We  went back to Paris in 1982 for a three day visit. All the haunts had long since closed - Rue Marf Beuf, (sp) the American Legion a block away appeared vacant..I'm guessing most of the WW I vets had passed. I would get my haircut there on the 6th floor from Tony, the ex pat from Russia. 

We did not visit Petite Beaugard or the nearby PX-cafeateria. Is it still there? 

Our last day there a pickpocket got my wallet. My wife had our train tickets back to Augsburg, Germany, I was going to stop by the American Embassy to obtain a quick loan; but after seeing the long line of other Americans who had their wallet or purse stolen, I said the hell with it. The train back to Germany was about four or five hours as I recall. My first stop back was to obtain a new military card.         

Sad in a way, but not unexpected. I still have the memories from 1958 - 61.  No more trips for us. I recently turned 80. We live in Lakewood, WA & Mesa, AZ during the winter. 

Phil Davidson

PAHS class of 1960

Lynnford (Lynn) Wilson (1962)

To Phil Davidson. Read your recent comment on PB which mentioned Augsburg. I was CO Augsburg hospital during first Gulf War (D. Storm -1990)and after that quick war revisited PB when a French officer invited us there . Seemed the same to me. I can't  remember which of our clasxmates I visited at PB in 1959 but think my French Col friend (Hugues Besson) lived in the same house because I remembrred the basketball  court and slide from ghe living room window. Small world. .  We left Paris summer of '59. Were you involved in International Scout troop that hiked 400 miles Thru Jutenheim mts of Norway with CPTs Sawyer and Baird in 1957-8 I believe Jim Jones ( Am School in Paris), Don  Conrad and Barry McCaffrey were. 

Paul Hughes (1968)

To Phil D....Yes Phil, PB , AYA Centre building and Bel Manoir are still there....ALL occupied by Gendarmes these days.....Live close by these days and expect to be back there in May......Best...Paul

Carl Yorke

Once more I'll ask if anyone remebers Peter Parker and do you have any stories about him. 

And then there's this. I'm cleaning out the corners of my file drawers and keep coming across stuff that might give you a memory. Here's another.

Carl Yorke

And the other side.

Bart Bartlett (1957)

Lynn Wilson asked: "Were you involved in International Scout troop that hiked 400 miles Thru Jutenheim mts of Norway with CPTs Sawyer and Baird in 1957-8 I believe Jim Jones ( Am School in Paris), Don  Conrad and Barry McCaffrey were."  I was one of the explorer scots who made that trip! We left Paris on a bus for Copenhagen but somewhere in Germany it broke down and anothere had to be sent to take us to the ferry that took us to Oslo. We then boarded a train to Tronhiem (sp?), we performed in costum since we were members of the OA. We hiked from hostel to hostel led by Od Hagen a Norweigan Scout who was our guide. I swear his father must have been a kangaroo and his mother a mountain goat because he would stride up and down the column urging us on whil we huffed and puffed our way along the trail! We camped in Bodo, went down in the deepest Zinc mine, crossed the mountains, climbed a glacier, forded ice cold streams, and slid down steep paths! What a marvelous time. When we got to Tinn, another scout and I left the troop and attended the World Jamboree in Sutten Coldfield, England. The trip was one of the greatest adventures I have ever experienced!

Jack Slimp (1961)

Yes, I was also one who went on that trip.  I was 14 then, and like you said, that was one of the stellar experiences of a lifetime. 

Of course we didn't hike 400 miles across the Jotunheimen mountains, but it was a good 5 or 6 days with a day in between for the glacier hike along the way. That glacier hike is the most memorable event of the entire trip.  One scout fell into a "bottomless" crevasse and that also pulled in the one behind him; it was a precarious situation because both heading toward and away from the crevasse the ice sloped downward to it.  Good thing we were all roped together.  Nonetheless, due to the mountainous nature of the glacier and the way our line was curved around, it was about 45 minutes before we got our 2 scouts up & out.  I​ was just 3 scouts behind the 2nd one that fell in.

 At the end of our glacier challenge after getting off the glacier, we rolled boulders 1100 feet down that bare rocky mountain . We could see them sail off the mountain curve then bounce off the solid bedrock below and it would be a full second before hearing the sound of impact.  Those boulders would bounce up like a basketball while spinning/twisting then coming down for a continued bounce on the flat bedrock valley.  Impressive! 

Trondheim was a great 10-days camping in the woods next to blueberries and a river.  We ate blueberries till they were coming out our ears.  Learned a bunch of good scouting stuff.

Bodo was a 5-day camping experience on the coast with the midnight sun.  I remember looking at the ocean horizon as the sun reached its lowest point.  I stretched out my arm and hand and measured 3 fingers from the horizon to the bottom of the sun.  The sky had an orange-like hue and shadows were dark and heavily contrasted with the orange light around them.

I know one of the scoutmasters we were with took photos, but, if I remember correctly, they were all lost and we didn't wind up with any.  If any of you has photos, I would love a copy please.

Jack Slimp (1961)

Here is a scan of our Norway Expedition patch:

John (Jack) Florio (1966)

A few pictures from Troop 125 in Aug 1961 ...

Michael Savuto (1968)

Speaking of Scout trips in France; in 1965 we went on a Camporee outside of Paris which was a strange experience from beginning to end. Somehow I was made responsible for procurring the provisions for our troop and of course had NO idea of what was needed or what I was doing. So our provisions were less than steller for the 2, 3 or 4 (?) days of the Camporee, but we did not starve. After our arrival I discovered that the Mosquitos there just LOVED me but my body did not share their affection. I developed welts the size of quarters everytime I was bit/stung, which seemed to be quite frequently. It was also my first time to be out in the wild so long and the "facilities" consisted of a typcial army large canvas tent covering a trench with something wood that served as a toilet seat. Being a city boy and rather body shy, I don't think I had a bowel movement for entire time. I do remember doing well at the campfire starting contest. However, the coup de grace of the entire trip was on the return trip our bus caught fire. It stopped traffic on the Autoroute while French truckers tried their level best to put the fire out but to no avail. We were all hunkered down half expecting the fuel tank in the bus to explode which fortunately it did not. The bus burned to the ground along with all of our camping equipment on board. Fun was had by all. 

William Higgins (1970)

Michael I too experienced the bus conflagration on the autoroute.  I seem to recall the driver not stopping until the entire rear of the bus was engulfed with heavy tire smoke.  Some officials tried to keep us with our heads down in the ditch, but we weren't having any of that.  I also remember that the gear we lost in the fire was all new, quite a loss.  Be Prepared!  Not sure about prepared, but we sure were excited.  I guess we were back in half shelters after that.  Good times.

Bill