A childhood spent in occupied France. Life, school life trying to be as normal as possible. Having to adapt to armed, uniformed, foreign soldiers marching down the street, the sound of jackboots, new street signs, hearing a different language being spoken. Becoming part of a new regime, approved by some, hated by others. A new French capital: Vichy. A father figure in the background: Marshal Petain. The disappearance of the Republican principles and motto: liberty, equality, fraternity. Armistice, collaboration, demarcation line, black market, curfew. This book looks at what it was all about.