curfew, we finally heard on the radio that the troops of Colonel Jacques Leclerc and his Second Armored Division were at the gates of Paris. The Americans, who’d led the way until now, had allowed them the courtesy of entering Paris first. I was just back from work and home with Cecile when we heard the momentous news. Then the bells of Paris, which had been silent for the four years of the occupation, began to ring. “Listen, Cecile!” I said, throwing open the window of our apartment and letting the jubilant peal of bells fill the room. We stood in the window, basking in the early evening sun,
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