Fitch (DMS 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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TTA VENUE 0 P002 FRJOO Main Street Aiaccio AIACCIU May 14 - May 18 AFTER Algiers, and one night in Cagliari, Sardinia, flVlay 125 the little French town of Ajaccio was B welcome sight,'Nestled in a quiet cove at the foot of steep green hills, it appeared as peaceful as a sleeping faun, guarded by the quiet snow-capped giants of the interior. The people seemed happy. There were no kids too tough for their years, roaming the streets. Even an atempt at obliterating the MU. S. Navy Co Home signs had been made. VLiberty in Ajaccio was nothing outstanding, like a small town in the States they urolled up the sidewalks at nine, but it afforded a wonderful opportunity for leisurely strolls about town and to the beaches where some of us saw our first Bikini', suits and the fascinat- ing way in which the young lassies change them. A tour up the coast revealed the rugged and varied beauty of the island. Swimming at Sagonne, lunch at Coraggio, and beer at the rocks of Piana, all were. high points of the tour. We had shared Algiers with the Macomb and Ajac- cio we shared with the Tarawag another town and a lot of white hats. We said Ajaccio is nice , but we also said, Ah Ha, it is our last stop before CANNES . Small Corsican town near Sagonne Volcanic rock and azure sea Pretty good tour 'ftll E' it 1 W0 9 -f - C r- 754' I 9 , . fv,sf,f filfjfll Ns.', I G',nl'5, I , 1:51 N- '9 1 5 fd iff 1 ,lf !.'1- 'L V ::E 5:4 '4S,7 .

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I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I F Doclcside in Algiers I - - ,I ff ,,.. x3gZ::2.:. 7 ,,1,W7'n l,q , li-..s. r,-M I I I , A ,, f .A E. uw! , fag f 'f p 3.:'.:.?W,5f, '- 4 II X .' gs N f ' ' I , 'L X AR 'I ff , X I , x' f 1 , LLC' ' May7-May9 I X' l f ,,, - -'f' 2 Kasbah means walled city, but it held far more meaning than that to each of X u 0 4 - XX X' fi X XX us as we steamed into Al iers that Thursda mornin the seventh of Ma . It meant 17, ,- , Y 44 I Q adventure and the romance of far away places we'd heard of in songs and movies, and ji X- X A. even more it meant a welcome relief from two weeks of stead steamin and one fn' ' Q' X , f A521 I XX X xg in three watches. il' If ' Ay- X lg A tour was arranged and we found the real Kasbah to be a wretched cesspool 1 If Zi I 57,1 l .. I , .', H--.-. ,I -, Y ,, Ui: it if 5-9 if nga. iffsx- f J' IJ III ! Xa X M . 1' XXIJJWKZZL :If gg x ig iF'4lffa -t EI M fXxNi I Hush' X fl XXX 1, jj? twrg3?: L ilmmllll Z lx I, ' I X IQI - Ig f IX . J I H X of humanity but never-the-less exciting and different. Its tortuous streets and treacherous population, the windowless houses and steep stairways suggested that we had stepped three hundred years into the past. Of course all of Algiers was fascinatingg the veiled Moslem women who believe it indecent to show their faces to any but their own familyg the Moslem men in their crazyH red fezesg the ragged, predatory kids with their international catch phrase, Hey Joe, you got ceegaret? g and the Arabs who seem to delight in winding their dirty linen about their heads to form turbans. One of the best hotels in Algiers is the Aletti, which provided us a popular gathering spot, serving good food, good-drinks, and good music. Then there were other gathering spots like the Sphinx and the Rainbow which failed to favor the patron with good food, music and drinks, but nevertheless had certain 'fattractions . One of the most beautiful places in Algiers is the Botanical Gardens, laid out in Moslem Women 'elf First Tour - In the experi- mental gardens 44 classic French style and displaying many strange trees and exotic flowers. For those that took the all day tour, the Lunch at Monkey Brooke Inn was a memorable occasion. Though the steaks we had, demonstrated the durability of Algerian leather, the setting was exquisite. Cradled in the rugged Gorges of Chiffa, the Inn provided general mess for the monkeys in the area. Most enjoyable of all probably was just casual walking around the town, stopping at a bar here and there, and haggling with a shopkeeper there and here. And we all took a French lesson: V00-LAY VOO DAHN-SAY A VEK MWAH?

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I -L to-f 0Q,!!N.E3 Dear Mom, well here I am in Cannes That's on the French Riviera you know. Went up to Nice last night and, uh, well, that's all for now. Love, Salty A Cannes was good liberty, even if one didnat go to Nice or Monte Carlo one could have a good time at the beaches, which are the best on the Riviera. The scenery was nice too. We got a close look at the Bikini suits and a distant view of the Maritime Alps and adja- cent areas. There was always something to write home about. Probably the biggest attraction was Nice with its famous Promenade des Anglaise fthe name is almost synonomous with Rivieral and its foot-bruising cobble- stone beaches. Nice boasts a number of small cafes that serve an interesting variety of foods, wines, and enter- tainment, but who said that French wines aren't strong? There were many ships in the harbor with us, six in our nest alone, if you want to count a submarine, so we were never lonesome ashore for the sight of a fellow Casino at Monte Carlo UST fl'l9HdS Monte Carlo from Palace at MonaC0 gil. 5 , If View from Eze mariner. Such large numbers of men enabled us to have a choice of tours every day. The Riviera tour took us to Monaco and Monte Carlo where we visited the famous Casino. We had lunch in Nice and visited some of the ancient little towns of the interior, Eze and St. Peter, after which we stopped at the perfumerie at Grazze to see how they turned hog fat and musk into' rare French perfumes. Though not as varied as the Riviera tour the Alpine tour provided us with some magnificent scenery, a rest- ful day ashore, and a few more photographs for the album. - A few of us and a couple of officers managed to get to Paris for four days and a few went fishing for two days in the Alps. It's hard to write a letter convincing the folks that the Navy isn't a tourists' paradise when you're on the Riviera. Letters ring with familiar names associated with the 'cplayground of Europe we write of liberties filled with peddle boats, sidewalk cafes, streets full of bicycles, Madamoiselles, French cooking and a hundred other won- derful new things. For every day ashore, though, there is at least one at sea. For an account of this less glitter- ing aspect see the next section. I Monaco Palace Guard