Les Grandes Chasses en Indochine was a sales brochure prepared for the 1937 Paris Exposition. It described the various big (and small) game that could be found in Vietnam. Tigers, elephants, rhinos, deer, bears, birds, crocodiles and wild buffalo could be hunted by those so inclined. Advertising featured safari services, guns, ammunition and taxidermy services. 

A first class luxury safari is offered:  

"First class guide speaking English and local languages. Good cars. Comfortable hunting bungalow with brick house with two first class bathrooms with running water, modern facilities, dining room, verandah, veranda, electric light and all the and all possible comfort. This bungalow is built in the heart of the jungle, in the middle of a very gamey area, 10 hours drive from Saigon. Excellent food, fresh vegetables, drinks, wine and ice. Housekeepers to wash clothes, take care of weapons and equipment. Camp staff, skinners, etc. Best equipment, double canvas tents, camp beds, mosquito nets, in case it is necessary to camp outside. Ox carts, saddle horses, porters to go where the cars cannot penetrate." 

All of this cost 3,600 piastres for a month for two hunters plus 500 piastres for an additional guide.

A list of clients of the D & D Safari Service includes former US President Theodore Roosevelt.

BGI was nationalized in 1977 and its successor company continues to sell both brands of beer along with several American and European brews under license. 

Above photo taken on Nguyen Du street, Vung Tau in 1972.

Built in 1880, the Continental Palace, was known simply as "The Continental". It's veranda lounge, open to the street, was the gathering place for the French colons where they sipped Citron Pressé, Dubonnet and Pastis de Marseille under the high ceiling with slowly rotating fans.

By early 1965, when this photo was taken, it had become a hangout for journalists, American expatriate businessmen and military contractors. The beverages of choice had changed to scotch, gin and tonic and Biere Larue.

Sitting there in the late afternoon one could see the comings and goings of the International Control Commission, the ineffectual bunch supervising the 1954 armistice agreement. All the hustle and bustle of Saigon traffic, street vendors and strolling pedestrians was there to view. 

Photo from Wikipedia

In the 1960s French of Corsican descent continued to operate many of Saigon's hotels and restaurants. 

The Continental is now government owned but still looks much the same, though the open terrace is gone. Ground floor areas are now glass enclosed and the hotel entrance moved. While much of the city is changing as old colonial buildings are torn down, the hotel retains its Old Saigon appearance with the stucco colored exterior and red tile roof. 

Continental Palace and Rue Catinat in an Old Postcard Photo

French military officers at the Continental in early 1950s

Night curfew in 1964

Headed for Hong Kong in August of 1968. My family and I are in the crowd waiting to board the plane. On this trip Cathay Pacific Airways made an unexpected stop at Phnom Penh, where everyone had to get off and wait in the departure lounge for half an hour before reboarding.

The aircraft was a Convair 880, a four engine jet that was reputed to have been the fastest commercial airliner built in the US. An Air Vietnam DC-3 is parked behind the line of passengers.

Above photo by John Wisely.

On July 1, 1971 I boarded Pan American flight 841 in Honolulu, bound for Saigon and a new job, with my wife, two kids and six pieces of luggage. 

Previously flown using a Boeing 707 aircraft, this was the first flight on this route using the then new B747. The daily flight at that time was routed San Francisco, Honolulu, Guam, Manila, Saigon and Singapore, with the plane returning trans-pacific as Pan Am flight 842.

Once airborne after refueling at Guam the plane suffered a landing gear problem. The pilot dumped fuel and returned to Guam where the problem was fixed and after several hours and we continued on our journey via Manila. Our arrival at Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Airport was very late. We made our way to the Majestic Hotel for some much needed rest.

The Grand Canal (later Boulevard Charner, now Nguyen Hue) , a floating drydock, the signal station, sampans and l'arroyo chinoise appear in these 1875-79 photos taken by Émile Gsell. From the Université Côte d'Azur bibliothèques.

 

Photo from Wikipedia

Today a  24 story tower addition dwarfs the original Caravelle and a luxury shopping center replaced the block containing the Eden apartments building, shops and cinema.

There were several private clubs in Saigon. Foreign expatriates and diplomats along with elite wealthy Vietnamese and their families could, if members, enjoy the swimming, tennis, dining and gym at Le Cercle Sportif Saigonnais. During 1969 and 1970 my uncle Ed Sanborn was a member while in Saigon as general manager of an American civil engineering firm. He took these photos.

Le Cercle Sportif is now known as the Ho Chí Minh City Labor Culture Palace.

Photo from historynet.com

A work associate belonged to Le Club Nautique. He kept a power boat there and, however unlikely this may seem, used it for water skiing on the Saigon River.

Another private club was the International House, of which I was a member in 1967-68. Located at No. 69 Nguyen Hue, it had a restaurant, piano bar, slot machines and a little store selling luxury goods, including diamond jewelry. There was something murky about the ownership of this place as they were able to import beer, liquor, food and expensive goods not available elsewhere in Vietnam.

A large poster size copy of this image once adorned the wall of a Vietnamese restaurant in London. It shows the arrival of Paquebot-Poste "Tonkin" at the Messageries Maritimes dock in Saigon in July of 1903. Carriages, a luggage porter and a rickshaw await the disembarking passengers.

Colonial government officials, military personnel, colons and touristes had to endure an eight week sea voyage from Marseille to reach the exotic French colony of Cochin Chine. On the way port calls were made at (variously) Port Said, Suez, Aden, Djibouti, Bombay Colombo and Singapore.

Photo from Empire Colonial de la France: L'Indochine (1901).

Paquebot Tonkin went into service in 1898, was rebuilt and renamed Lotus in 1912. It served as a troop ship during the Great War and was scrapped in 1932.

Paquebot-Poste Tonkin renamed Lotus.

Messageries Maritimes ship André Lebon, built in 1914, is seen here arriving at Saigon c. 1922. Photo from Souvenir de la Indochine et du Cambodge.

Another ship arrival at Saigon. From Souvenir de la Indochine et du Cambodge.

The Messageries Maritimes website is a good place to read about ocean voyages to the extrême-orient before the advent of air travel.

Headquarters building of Messageries Maritimes in Saigon from an old post card. This is now the Ho Chi Minh museum.

The center median on Le Loi street fronting Lam Son square was a motor scooter parking lot in 1965. The vehicle of choice at the time was a Lambretta or Vespa. A year or two later Japanese scooters and motorbikes started to appear on Saigon's streets. Today Honda is a generic term for any motorcycle.

Partially hidden at  the right is the TAX building at the corner of Le Loi and Nguyen Hue. It was once a department store called Grands Magasins Charner, built in 1924. It is now gone, replaced with a 43 story skyscraper.