Flower of Heaven Read Online Free PDF

business was poor? How could he turn his back on him now? Indeed, Louis would stay at the Café Royal and, in appreciation, Cardin made Louis his maître d’ and headwaiter.
    Françoise, most of all, was elated at the news that her father was now going to be home on weekends, those glorious weekends of exploring the attractions of Paris with her giant of a father. “This Saturday, Papa, can we just walk through the city again,” pleaded Françoise, “it’s been so long since I’ve seen any buildings outside this street that I don’t know if I’ll remember them.”
    Louis smiled and warmly responded, “Little one, as soon as your eyes come upon a sight you have seen but once before, you will remember not only its name but the whole history behind it as I once told you.”
    Paris was alive again and the streets were bustling with soldiers and traffic, as Françoise had never seen before. As they walked on the Rue de Vanves toward Avenue du Maine, Françoise began, “There’s the Institut Pasteur de Montrouge and over there is the Cimetiere du Montparnasse and…” she continued like the rapid fire of a machine gun, spitting out information in succession as if she had seen these landmarks the day before, not four years ago.
    If he had any doubts about her remembering the lessons he had taught her about the city and its sights, Françoise convinced her father in the first hour that, not only did she remember, she craved for more. It was just Françoise and her father, no brothers to tease her, no mother to subject her to the routine of housework, and the freedom to roam on and on in a city that seemed to offer more each time she thought she had seen it all.
    By noon they had meandered through the streets, stopping briefly to talk about the buildings and even going inside a few to see if the bombings had badly damaged any of them. They approached the Café Royal where Louis had planned for them to stop for a quick lunch as the restaurant prepared to open for the day. Monsieur Cardin and the other employees who knew that Louis held a special place of importance at the restaurant greeted him with warmth. Waiters and chefs were immediately attracted to Françoise’s smile and eagerness to learn about everything around her and spoiled Françoise at lunch.
    As time went on, the Saturday lunches at the café were times when each waiter could sit briefly with Françoise to tell her about other parts of Paris she had not seen, or so they thought. Each week became a testing period for her as she anxiously awaited the quizzing from the waiters on the sites of Paris. And every time, the waiters would come away shaking their heads in amazement at Françoise’s phenomenal memory for detail, even when the questions concerned small out-of-the-way monuments she had not even visited yet.
    The next four years were very prosperous ones for the Dupont family. Louis had been promoted to restaurant manager as Monsieur Cardin worked less and less due to arthritis in his legs forcing him to stay off them more and more. Cardin would sit behind the counter and act as the cashier while Louis would oversee the entire operation of the restaurant.
    At ages fifty-seven and fifty-three, Louis and his wife had finally realized the dream of owning their own home. A small cottage just outside of the city was all they needed now that all the other children were grown and on their own, except Françoise, at seventeen, who was completing her schooling and still living at home. Louis had purchased a car, but the drive to the restaurant was too much bother each day. In 1949, parking on public thoroughfares was tolerated by the police even though it was in violation of public laws prohibiting it. The congestion on the city streets made Louis nervous since he had only recently begun to drive an automobile. It was, for Louis, a status symbol more than a means of transport. Instead, he would take the Metro from just outside the city limits and would leave the