Part 1: Chapter 1, La Belle France Summary and Analysis

On Wednesday, November 3, 1948, Julia and Paul arrived in France. Julia didn't know what to expect as she hadn't been to Europe before, but Paul had lived in Paris during the 1920s and it was his favorite city. When the government had offered him the job in Paris, Paul was excited to take it. Julia and Paul thought that if they could survive traveling together, their marriage would be fine.

Julia and Paul met in 1944 while they worked for the Office of Strategic Services. Paul was an artist and Julia was the head of the Registry, where she processed reports and top-secret information. Later, they were both transferred to China. Although they'd lived outside of the United States before, their work kept them very busy and Julia didn't think of it as really living...