A Brief History of my Family in France - Part 7
Hello everyone. This is the continuation of the story of my French family.
The story starts here
Previous episode: Part 6
World War II - Tunis
During the hostilities between France and Germany in 1939-1940, Henri was still working at the Ministère de la Marine.
In November 1940, he was posted in Tunis (Tunisia) as the commanding officer of the French Navy in Tunisia.
So, he moved to Tunis with most of his family.
They lived in a house in "rue de Tanneurs" (Tanner street).
Recent view of Rue des Tanneurs
Although there were no longer any tannery in the street, my mother remembers that the smell was still there.
In Tunis, Henri was mostly dealing with the Italians.
Henri and his family stayed in Tunis until the summer of 1942.
When they arrived in Paris, they rented a large apartment in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, avenue de Camoens, very close to the Eiffel tower.
View of the Eiffel tower from the Avenue de Camoens
Source
The apartment has been owned previously by Saint-John Perse who was a poet and diplomat and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960.
In 1945, at the end of World War II, Henri became an "ingénieur hydrographe" (hydrographic engineer).
Continue to Part 8
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I wonder why Henri and his family rented? Is it because they moved a lot? I guess, it is common in the military and navy families.