“No, I didn’t,” she said, catching her husband’s eye and smiling at him. “I was scared of such a faraway place at the time. I was young, and there are almost no French there. Especially French women.”
“But you came here,” I said, looking around us.
“Yes, because it’s the crown jewel in our colonial empire. And in so many ways it’s just an extension of France,” she said, following my gaze.
“I don’t quite see it like that. Yet,” I admitted.
“You’ve been here mere minutes. You’ll see. It’s even better than France,” Marcelle said. “I have quite a few local friends. I don’t live in this little colonial castle like so many of the wives do. And I don’t just brush off the people here as useless mites—that’s short for ‘Annamites,’ or the natives, as many like to say. You’ve seen a map of the colony, I presume? Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina, Cambodia, and Laos all broke apart when the French colonized the region formally in 1887, though we forgot to grab Laos until ’93. Some of the regions are considered protectorates, some simple colonies. Annam, where the emperor rules, or where we let him think he does, is a protectorate, and that’s where the term ‘Annamite’ comes from. And ‘mite.’ But really, it’s not a very nice term.”
“Enough of that history lesson,” said Arnaud. “Let’s ask the mites for more champagne,” he said, grinning at his wife, who rolled her eyes and turned back to me.
I nodded, thinking of all the reading I had done about the colony before we’d come over. I was trying to come up with an intelligent response when Marcelle leaned in close and whispered again, as if it were quite normal for us to share secrets: “But all that is just geography. If you want to see the real Indochine, just tag along with me. I would be happy to show it to you.”
“I would like that very much,” I replied.
“Stick close to my wife,” said Arnaud, again interrupting our little tête-à-tête. “She knows this city like a native now. I shouldn’t let her run so free,” he said, looking to Victor. “But she’s much happier when uncaged.”
“You didn’t marry a housecat, I’m afraid,” said Marcelle, laughing.
“Jessie would love a tour guide,” said Victor. “We have both been trying to learn about the colony since we decided to come over six months ago, so we are quite familiar with the geography. We even took language lessons.”
“Did you?” said Marcelle. “How fascinating. I’ve been here so long, and I still don’t speak it well. Difficult language.”
“Jessie was a teacher,” said Victor. “She eats up knowledge.”
“How lovely for you,” said Marcelle, not unkindly. “And lucky for Victor to have a clever wife.”
After the fish salad, we dined on three more courses—trout in jelly, leg of lamb, and profiteroles with crème anglaise, all taken with too much wine and champagne.
When we had finished, sipping strong coffees to temper the alcohol, Arnaud gripped Victor’s arm. “You’re wanted for billiards, my man. Are you any good? Everyone would like to know, because if you’re not, they are ready to take your money, what’s left of it, anyway. The rubber men were more fun to play with before ’28, when the economy was booming, but we know you’re not flat broke yet. The government has been handing you money left and right. All the planters, but especially the Michelin machine, n’est-ce pas? Loans from the Banque de l’Indochine that they never expect you to pay back. Not to mention those lenient tax rates. Simple rice farmers have higher taxes than Michelin et Cie.”
Victor opened his mouth to protest, but Arnaud had strong ties to the government and knew of what he spoke. I could see him recalibrate.
“We appreciate all the support the state has given us since we decided to start planting ourselves. Because really, what is good for Michelin is even better for the state,” said Victor confidently. “For France. If we win, the colony wins, and the country. We invested 200 million francs here before 1925 alone, and the number has just gone up. Even if our rates are low, that’s still quite a lot of money paid in taxes. Which is fine. An honor even. That’s always how we’ve viewed things. Country first, then Michelin.”
“Of course, of course. Your success is our success,” said Arnaud, pulling his elbows off the table. “I understand the Michelin strategy. You’ve now