Joanne and Sylviane in Neuilly
So we got to 31 rue de Saussaye, and as I peeked through the openings of the very assuming gate, Sylviane rang the buzzer. She explained to a woman who I was, and that I was hoping to take a photo of the house. Quite quickly the woman said she was quite sorry but for security, she could not do that. Then Sylviane, continued, and mentioned my connection to M. Joseph Liebmann. Sylviane said later, she detected a certain pause. However, she again, apologized, and said she could not open the gate for a photo.
So with disappointment, we started climbing benches to see if we could get my camera to reach over the gate, and to our surprise, a woman came out. She smiled kindly, and said, if we would like to take a photo of the garden and house, it would be okay. She is the owner. They bought 20 years ago, she did not know Joe Liebmann, but knows of him and the connection of the house to Clerc.
She said they were the ones who did the big remodel on the front of the house. I asked if there hadn't been a circle drive (I remember being amazed by the chauffeur always there) and she said yes, they replaced it with the veranda/ terrace and garden.
She thought my connection to the house was wonderful (I described my fascination with the gigantic walk-in closet in Hilda's room with all the thousands of shoes in every color of the rainbow), and she enjoyed hearing about Sylviane and I reuniting right there in Neuilly. She didn't want me to take her photo or share her name.
We thanked her profusely. So thanks to the spunk and chutzpah of my French girlfriend from 1971, we now have this documented.
