How I saw Hitler on my summer vacation : memoir of SS Normandie sailing to pre-WWII Europe including Nazi Germany

In 1938, high-spirited Helen McPhail sails the SS Normandie to a Europe displaying signs of change due to Hitler’s increasing demands for power. Thirty years old and single, she savors the excitement of visiting nine countries by rail, from museums and nightclubs in Paris, to a dogsled ride in the Alps!

The trip is carefully planned, but total surprises keep cropping up. She loses her hotel reservations to German soldiers - twice! Did her travel agent know the uncertainty of making a hotel reservation on the eve of the annual Nazi Party Rally? She was taken to Nazi Headquarters in Salzburg! How does one spend a black night in Austria? She becomes entangled in circumstances that are fascinating, frustrating, and romantic! (Listening to Hungarian music can be treacherous!)

As Helen joyfully hops from country to country, more than one handsome man longs for her to stay. Join her on the streets of Paris, amidst throngs of frantic people who are trying to leave Europe. Be an eye-witness to a Paris where taxis and drivers are commandeered to military service, as France prepares for war on the eve of the Munich Conference. Why is the RMS Queen Mary distanced off shore, instead of waiting at the dock?

Jump into an adventure you will remember forever! Readers of this book come away feeling like they were right there with her! Enjoy over 20 photos from her scrapbook!

Here is an excerpt from a review from a reader, that was sent to me via email:

Loved the book!! It gives such a delightful and at times ominous glimpse through your Aunt's eyes of that time in history. Her expressions, the music and cinema that she refers to, draw the reader right into the 30's. The historical time line, is so very helpful and provides a very powerful context to Helen's travel experiences. I marvel at her stamina, which I'm sure came from her joyous expectancy of good. And the luggage---always finding her, no matter who or how it leaves her sight but always to show up in the right