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Hi, I'm Bruce Robbins and Paris is a bit of an obsession for me, sort of in the genes, I suppose. My late father, John, went to Paris in 1950 – just five years after the war ended –when he was 27. He and a pal, Dick Henderson, hitch-hiked all the way there and back from their native Dundee on Scotland’s east coast. Both wearing the kilt, they said it was easy getting a lift!



I still have a photograph of them taken at the Palais de Chaillot with the Eiffel Tower in the background. They’d taken an American GI, Corporal William Baker, on a tour of the city and he bought from a street photographer the picture the three of them posed for. That’s the pic below with, left-to-right, Dick, William and John. William had a car and, judging from the note he wrote on the back, my dad and his pal, though it was their first visit to the city, must somehow have convinced him that they knew their way around!



It still brings a tear to my eye. Five years later, John returned to Paris – with his new bride, Lena. They enjoyed another four holidays in the city. I want to take my mum back but she won’t go. She says it would be too upsetting revisiting their old haunts without my dad in tow.

I’ve carried on this love affair with the city, although I was a late starter. I’ve been a few times now with my better half, Cath, and we’re planning lots more visits in future. Photography and travel are what I do for pleasure. My job as a newspaper reporter goes someway towards financing it. Ultimately, I’d like to live in France near Paris if I can afford it.

So far, our kids haven’t yet inherited our love of the city. But they will, they will...

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