May Heath Goes To Europe
May Heath, Sidewalk CafE in Paris, Jun. 16, 1954
In September of 1930, May and
Doc went to Canada by way of
Port Huron, and on to London
and Niagara Falls.
In March 1933 May wrote in her diary that Mrs. Franklin Job, and daughter Cordelia were enthused about the trip to Europe
they and she were planning for the next year, "Hope it all comes true, but
a year is a long look ahead". No trip took place, perhaps due to the
impacts of the depression.
A visit to Cuba did occur during one of her winter stays in
Florida, but
it was not until 1954, at the age of 81, that May launched her European
adventure. She traveled with her art teacher from Ft. Worth, Florida,
Mrs. Marie Steffe, a francophone. After celebrating
her birthday with daughter Bette in New
York, May 13, 1953, they sailed the next day aboard
the French liner "Liberte". They arrived in
Plymouth, England on the 20th, and spent two
weeks in "the Shakespeare county". Always
the writer, her travel diary shows that she had sent off 135 postcards by the
time they arrived in London,
where they stayed a week. On May 31st, they crossed the English Channel to Oostende. Traveling through Brussels,
and the Netherlands, on they
went to Paris,
which was to be their headquarters over the summer. In the Commercial Record
article published before her departure, May laughingly told of her "big
desire" --- "having her picture taken while sitting at a sidewalk cafe"
(which you can see DID come about from the picture above).
Her diary outlines the sites
and the interesting people they met. Touristy visits included the Louve, Versailles,
Notre Dame Cathedral, Napoleon's tomb, and the Follies Begere.
After a full month, they began their
trip home on "the Liberte" June 25th from LeHavre. May was an excellent sailor, but her travel
companion suffered from sea-sickness. May wrote of the
shipboard entertainment: "The dance very Pretty- lovely gowns. They gave
fans and hats as favors. One old duffer, a German, asked me to waltz. No! No!
But he paid me a lovely complement at my age it was wonderful. I used no
make-up and nature had been very good to me and kept me 81 yrs young.
(Flattery) but I like it!" A nice memory as her adventure was coming to a
close.
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This series on Saugatuck
Historian May Francis Heath (MFH) will continue until the 50th anniversary of
her death in September, 2011. The MFH Study Group continues to seek
information, documents, photographs of May, her paintings, and personal
recollections of Mrs. Heath. If you have any to share contact: Chris Yoder at
269-857-4327 or Marsha Kontio at 616-566-1239.
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