PARIS IN PACIFIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 112, 2 August 1927, Page 13

PARIS IN PACIFIC

LIVING IS SIMPLIFIED PARADISE FOR HOUSEWIVES An earthly paradise for the housewife describes Noumea, capital of New Caledonia, that little bit of Paris centred in the Pacific. For there is no domestic problem there!

Mrs. E. Perkins, wife of an American mining engineer at Noumea, is on her way back to the United States for a six weeks’ holiday. 'With her two children she arrived by the Niagara yesterday afternoon.

Living conditions in Noumea, explains Mrs. Perkins, are simplified by the number of servants available. Living is not expensive, though the franc has more than doubled its former value within the last year or so. One time Australian tourists made a point of buying the latest Parisian confections in Noumea —at French prices! It was the same with powders and perfumes. Now that the franc has righted itself to a large extent, the Australians are not quite so enterprising. It is almost as cheap to buy them in Sydney or Melbourne.

Mrs. Perkin’s small son cannot speak English. He converses with his mother and sister in French. By the time they reach Vancouver, however, they believe that young Master Perkins will be able to greet his American relatives with the best possible accent! And it will not be a French one either.