For students of the First World War, here is an interesting fact. According to Mildred Aldridge, the American writer who retired to a village near the River Marne in France in July 1914 - hoping for some peace and quiet after the bustle of the French capital - after the signing of the Treaty of Frankfurt which ended the Franco-Prussian War, all the chauffeurs of Paris Department Stores were German.
That meant that they knew the country surrounding Paris extremely well and also knew the names and addresses of the most important, rich and influential people in France.
