Chapter 36 From Switzerland to Marseille, France

We asked the embassy: we took the train and our luggage was transported from Switzerland to Marseilles in France by truck.Our conditions are fulfilled one by one.However, we don't have too much luggage, and even the first floor is not filled with a large car with a load of tens of tons. From a distance, it is almost impossible to see that there is luggage on it.Empty and comical. But we can't manage that much.As soon as the luggage was loaded into the car, we were at ease, took the train to Geneva for a few days, and then boarded the train again for France.The time was February 2, 1946. During the border crossing, the customs inspection was very strict, because at that time, smuggling watches from Switzerland to France was a very profitable business.If we open the several boxes we carry with us one by one and check them slowly, "how long will life be if the river is clear"? Even the train may be delayed.One of us, in a panic, fumbled out of his pocket a Swiss franc coin. It was only a franc, not worth much.I was waiting in amazement for the inspector to lose his temper when, by a miracle, the inspector pocketed the Swiss franc, chalked some "ghost marks" on all our boxes, and we passed.

It's my first time to France, so of course it's refreshing.When I arrived at the terminal Marseille, I noticed that the street scene here was completely different from that in Switzerland.France is a country with much less racial discrimination than Britain and the United States.I have been in Germany for ten years, and I have never seen a German woman walking on the street arm in arm with a black man.Under fascism, that was absolutely impossible.I've never seen it in Switzerland.Now when you come to Marseille, you can see pairs of black and white couples everywhere, walking hand in hand on the street.As soon as I was in a trance, the streets were filled with images of pear blossoms and black charcoal, black and white were extremely distinct, which really opened my eyes.The French, on the other hand, are "used to nothing at all" and are content with themselves.

I saw the sea for the first time in my life here.I often laugh at myself: I am probably the only one who was born on the Shandong Peninsula and has never seen the sea after ten years of study abroad.Now that I've finally washed the ridicule away, I'm so excited.And the rough and boundless image of the sea really inspired me. "The universe floats day and night" is Du Fu's poem describing Dongting Lake.This great poet probably has never seen the sea, otherwise he would have reserved such powerful verses for the sea. We took the certification documents issued to us by the US military in Göttingen, Germany, and went to negotiate with the office here that manages people who have been thrown out of their homes due to the war.They immediately arranged a place for us to live in. It was a big warehouse, simple but clean, and the food was okay.What pleases us the most is that the managers are all German prisoners of war, and there will be no more jokes like Demaindeuxjours in speaking.

However, we cannot be satisfied.We are going to find the consulate general sent by Nanjing here.We deal with this group of people, and we already have the Swiss experience: hard is better than soft.We did the same, and it really worked wonders.We left the big warehouse and moved into a hotel.We asked to return home by boat, and it must be first class.The Consul General agreed every step of the way, and everyone was happy.We stayed in Marseilles from February 2nd to February 8th, 1946.Things are done, and the mood is relaxed.We go to the beach to play every day, buy oranges on the street, eat in small restaurants, carefree and happy like gods.