"At the Continental, at the senators’ table, which had been succeeded by Oscar Berquet’s table in the early years of the century, and those of the twenty-two, now sat the Corsicans, my father’s old friends, former colonials like him. Whether they were inside the hotel on the edge of the garden or on the sidewalk at the corner of Rue Catinat and Place du Théâtre, they gathered every day at aperitif time, enjoying the familiar scent of pastis. Peaceful civil servants or magistrates, they continued to speak in dialect. It was their way of rediscovering the air of their homeland, of feeling the wind of the maquis penetrate their lungs. Since they had been living in Indochina, some of them had become accustomed to the bat-flanc and brown smoke. This explained the punctuality with which they got up to go home at the demanding hour of the magic pipe. There was nothing but peace and normality in these gatherings, to which the old colony had long been accustomed, but to which newcomers and passing strangers attributed secret, even unsavory intentions. The islanders and their dialect intrigued and irritated. "

Excerpt from Continental Saigon, published in 1977 by Olivier Orban, written by Philippe Franchini.
In this book, the author immerses us in the 1950s, transforming the legendary hotel into a theater where the dramas and hopes of a turbulent and captivating era are played out

A crossroads, a bus, cyclo-pousses, and on the right, a building with an advertising sign for a brand of cigarettes. This is Boulevard Charner, a vivid image where every detail tells the story of a city in the midst of change. Yet behind this seemingly peaceful scene, history is accelerating : in 1950, the Indochina War is looming, and Saigon, without yet knowing it, is about to undergo a radical transformation, sweeping away the gentle colonial lifestyle forever.e.

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