The French Love Affair

A true narrative of events surrounding the Nazi occupation of France…

By: Robert Darbelnet

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

A true narrative of events surrounding the Nazi occupation of France…
Few nineteen-year-old girls had the opportunity to spend their junior year of college abroad in 1929, much less middle-class Montana girls like Elizabeth Matheson. Her brave and adventurous spirit led her to study French at Le Sorbonne in Paris that year, where she fell in love—with the language, the country, and much later, a Frenchman.

Elizabeth returned to the States and became a teacher in Faribault, Minnesota. Some years later, her students were paired as pen pals with the students of a Monsieur Jean Darbelnet at the Lycée de Brest in northern France.

As a result of Elizabeth’s outgoing nature, the two teachers became pen pals, like their students. They met in person when Elizabeth decided to spend her summer vacation in France in 1933, and that is where they fell in love. They were married in 1938 and took up residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts where Jean became John, and began teaching French at Harvard University.

The following year, they planned a late-summer vacation in France and travelled to Europe on what turned out to be the last eastbound crossing of the French ocean liner SS Normandie. The Second World War broke out a few days after their arrival in France and quickly put a stop to North Atlantic passenger service.

When the war started, Elizabeth made the courageous decision to remain in France so she could be near her husband. When France fell to Germany, the couple were forced to flee, making a narrow escape back to America. They unknowingly became couriers of classified military messages and escaped the Nazis by traveling 3200 kilometers to Lisbon. From there they found passage on one of the few ships still crossing the Atlantic, narrowly avoiding German submarines which were patrolling the high seas.