My Four Weeks In France

by Ring Lardner

My Four Weeks in France by Ring Lardner is a delightful travelogue that chronicles the author's humorous and insightful observations during his brief sojourn in France. The story unfolds as Lardner, an American journalist, embarks on a four-week journey across France, immersing himself in the rich culture, history, and cuisine of the country. From the bustling streets of Paris to the picturesque countryside of Provence, Lardner's adventures take him to some of France's most iconic landmarks and hidden gems. As he navigates the quirks and customs of French society, Lardner provides readers with a series of witty and entertaining anecdotes, offering colorful snapshots of his encounters with locals, fellow travelers, and eccentric characters along the way. From awkward language barriers to comical cultural misunderstandings, Lardner's experiences are marked by a sense of humor and a keen eye for the absurd. Throughout his journey, Lardner also reflects on the broader themes of travel, identity, and the universal human experience. As he explores the beauty and complexity of France, he finds himself grappling with questions of belonging, connection, and the search for meaning in a world that often seems both familiar and foreign. "My Four Weeks in France" is not just a travelogue, but also a meditation on the joys and challenges of exploring new horizons and stepping outside one's comfort zone. Through Lardner's witty prose and keen observations, readers are invited to embark on a journey of discovery and self-reflection, finding humor and insight in the unexpected twists and turns of life on the road.

109 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 7, 2024

About the author

Ringgold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.

Father of author Ring Lardner Jr.

Reviews

[Translator Monkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a rather entertaining account of Ring Lardner's trip to France in 1917 as a would-be war correspondent. Once again, Lardner delivers.

Select quotes:

"To try my knowledge of française, I had purchased at the station a copy of Le Cri de Paris. I found that I could read it very easily by consulting the dictionary every time I came to a word."

"There is no speed limit for taxis or privately owned cars. A pedestrian run over and killed is liable to imprisonment. The driver is not only innocent, but free to hurl as many French curses as he likes at his victims. If the pedestrian is not killed, he must explain why not to the judge."

Lardner seems to take glee in the red tape he'd encountered in getting into and leaving France, as well as his frustration in being able to issue dispatches to his publisher without having his writing slaughtered wholesale by the censors. It's humorous to read, but had to have been nerve-wracking, given that missed ships or trains could result in a week's delay in the next ride.

The book is available for free and legal download through a number of sources, but the cleanest (and most recent) free copy can be acquired through standardebooks org, an excellent site with thousands of free legal reads.

Edit: I forgot to add what I had promised myself to include while reading the book: Lardner, a product of the time*, is quite happy to pepper his writing with slurs against blacks, Chinese, Germans (well, it WAS war!), and Italians, to name a few. These were inserted, no doubt, as a tool to make a description more humorous. They only served to detract from an otherwise worthy effort that still deserves reading.

* The rather tired phrase "product of one's time" is by no means meant here as an excuse for the transgressions committed. Those currently gasping for air at having read the above are kindly encouraged to relax, take deep breaths, and move on.

[Grant Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, quick read. Ring Lardner is a good humorist and this glimpse into life during WWI was fascinating. Some things like bureaucratic check gates never change and he shows this in all of its red tape glory.

[Apolonia L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ring Lardner was an American newspaper man. Lardner's writing influenced F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway among other writers more famous that himself. Many praised his talent at writing dialogue and dialect. He must have had one hell of a musical ear.

Reading MY FOUR WEEKS IN FRANCE makes me want to read everything else he ever wrote.

Monsieur "Laudanum," newspaper man, is sent to France to cover the First World War and like so many others, he wanted to cover the action at the trenches, or at least get close enough to not get killed. The closest he came was two hundred yards from the trench at a British camp but not before he was harassed every bureaucratic step of the way. Upon arriving in Bordeaux he was interrogated thus:

"What Monsieur Laudanum's business in France?"
I told him I was a correspondent.
"For who?"
"Mark Sullivan."
"Have you credentials for him?"
"No, sir."
"Your passport says you are going to Belgium. Do you know there are no trains to Belgium?"
"I know nothing about it."
"Well, there are no trains. How will you go there?"
"I'll try to get a taxi," I said.
"Are you going from here to Paris?"
"Yes."
"And where are you going from Paris?"
"I don't know."
"Please explain that answer."
"I will go wherever the authorities permit me to go."
"That is not a satisfactory answer."
"I'm sorry."
"What is your real business in France?"
"To write."
"I'm afraid we'll have to keep your passport. You will appear tomorrow morning at nine o'clock at this address."
And they handed me a scary-looking card.

If that wasn't an indication of the future to come; Lardner had already committed several faux-pas on the ship that would take him to France.

"I awoke at three-thirty this morning to find the cabin insufferably hot and opened the port-hole which is directly above my berth. The majority of the ocean immediately left its usual haunts and came indoors. Yale and Harvard were given a shower bath and I had a choice of putting on the driest things I could find and going on deck or drowning where I lay. The former seemed the preferable course."

Perhaps the paragraph that best summarizes his ordeal is this upon his safe return in New York:

"The hotel gave me a room without making me tell my age or my occupation or my parents' birthplace. The room has a bath, and the bath has two water faucets, one marked hot and one marked cold, and when you turn the one marked hot, out comes hot water. And there's no Peter James around to make you bathe when you don't feel the need."

There is one chapter perhaps the climax of the book where Lardner accepts the task of taking an unnamed military man's very expensive imported car in exchange for visiting the artillery camp where the military man was currently stationed.

I won't spoil the fun in Chapter VI when Monsieur "Laudanum" finally has had enough of the running around getting "photophies," and certified this and that in color-coded triplicates in order to comply with the French authorities. There is one line that made me laugh out loud:

"Vingt sept, Rue Yaki Hula Hickey Dula."
"Is that as far away as it sounds ?"
"Monsieur can go there and be back in une heure."
Monsieur crawled wearily into a taxi and started for Honolulu.

After what Lardner has been through just to get to that point (that point is getting fuel for the car), yes, things would look and sound like that. BTW he didn't manage to get to the artillery camp.

I very much enjoyed this book. You may too if you're not overly sensitive with the ways Lardner describes everybody he sees and meets.