Chapter 3
France: (ages 7-11) 1955-1959
The Great Ship
Ships were still the main method of trans-Atlantic passage in 1955. Air travel was just getting off the ground, so to speak and not a viable option for the military to transport families at this time in history. I was only 7, but I was thrilled we were going on the big ship, The Homeric of Canard Lines.
We left from the port of Montreal and arrived six days later in France at the port of Le Harvre. What I remember most about the experience on that big boat were the dinner mints on the table outside the dining room. I’d take a handful of them and savour them as their soft creamy texture melted in my mouth. It was an unfamiliar liberty.
Another indelible memory is the scant railings on the decks. The hungry waters broke into enormous waves along the side of the ship. They were way too close. There seemed to be nothing between me and that deep foreboding ocean. Mmmm, easy for a parent to rid of an unruly child. Just a little push and that’d be it. I found it quite horrific. I stayed well away and tried to behave myself as best I could.
My parents told us of icebergs that were huge underwater, but just showed little peaks on the top. They explained they were very dangerous for ships because ships could hit them even when they were far away. So that is why I wasn’t ecstatic when an iceberg was sited. Everyone on deck didn’t seem to know what I knew as they were waving excitedly and smiling. I never got sea sick, but this experience scared me deeply and all I could think about was who was going to be in the life boat with me.
The vast expanse of ocean gave me the impression that we weren’t really moving at all. I wanted to believe the adults who insisted that we would see land one day, but by day four, I had serious doubts. Waves, waves and more waves. From one horizon to the other, nothing but water. I could see me growing old on this boat. I was starting to wonder where we would get our food.
Then one day, everyone was on deck again, pointing to land on the horizon. I couldn’t see anything, but it wasn’t many hours later that I, too, saw it. Our long journey came to an end when we debarked at Le Harvre in France. We made it. The ice bergs didn’t get us and I didn’t get thrown overboard by angry parents. We were in France, our new home for the next 4 years.
