ABSTRACT
In August 1937, the French magazine of style Plaisir de France published a special issue devoted to the international exposition that had captivated the public throughout that summer. The issue was organized into a number of narrative promenades, each describing a different part of the exposition. In one of these episodes, a “Promenade Nocturne,” readers shared vicariously in the special delights of a nighttime visit, on which they accompanied Harrold and Anny, two fictional tourists from Wales (Barotte 1937). The young couple arrived at the Bourget airport around six p.m., after a cross-channel flight. Within an hour they had checked in at the Ritz, then immediately plunged into the experience of the fair, whose pavilions and attractions lined the monumental cross-axis of the Trocadéro and the Champs de Mars, and stretched along the Seine from the Pont Alexandre III to the Pont de Grenelle. By ten p.m. Harrold and Anny had settled into the riverfront Restaurant du Roi George, their attention divided between the authentic French meal they were served and the spectacle on the Seine, as darkness fell and one-by-one the bridges and pavilions lining the river were illuminated by brilliant and colorful light.
