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Grands Magasins Charner Saïgon

Mobylettes bleue Sagon

Croix-Rouge Française rue Thevenel

Camionnette Renault avec une saïgonnaise

La Banque B.N.C.I de Sagon

Paris Tissus

La Croix du Sud rue Catinat Saïgon

Place Pigneau de Behaine et la Cathedrale de Saigon

Couple Français devant le Café Le Givral Saïgon

Manifestaiton Sud-vietnamienne Saïgon

Thtre de Sagon

La semaine à Saïgon-Aout 70

Chez Brodard

Renault 10 Vietnam Cong Ty Saïgon

Femmes Vietnamiennes devant le Garage Charner Saïgon

Taxi Renault 4 CV de Sagon

Rue Catinat Saigon

Peugeot 203

Marin vietnamien sur un Vélosolex à Saïgon

Citroën

La Pharmacie Centrale de Sagon

Peugeot 404 devant le Thtre

Peugeot 203

Librairie Albert Portail

Hotel Catinat Sagon

policiers de Saïgon

Saci Forges Ateliers et Chantiers Indochine

Rue Catinat en 1946

Htel Majestic Sagon

Vue sur Sagon depuis l'htel Caravelle

Souvenirs de la rue Catinat Saïgon

Le Docteur Irwin S. Leinbach devant son Ambulance Peugeot de l'Hôpital Cho-Ray de Saïgon

Htel Continental Cyclomoteur 23 Juin 1947

Citroën Saïgon

Thtre municipal de Sagon

Boulevard Tong-Doc-Phuong au fond Hippodrome de Phu Tho Saigon

Femmes devant le magasin de Lucien Berthet Saïgon en 1953

Htel Continental Cyclomoteur Mars 1951

Societ des Imprimeries et Librairies Indochichoises Saigon

Cigares Mlia

Plan de Saigon

Asianis le Pastis de Sagon

La Poste de Sagon

Halles Centrales de Saïgon

jeunes sagonnaises

Bastos la cigarette de qualité

Cô-bà Pachod Frères Saïgon

Palace Hotel Saïgon

Rue Catinat en 1946

Htel Continental Taxi Renault

Sipeo Kodak Saigon

Depuis le café de la "Pointe des Blagueurs" la station maritime Mobil

Eden Sports Saïgon

Marins Français sur le Porte-Avion Lafayette en mai 1953

Cyclo-Pousse & Citroën 2 CV

Rue Catinat en 1946

Rue Catinat en 1946

Air France Dunlop

Cyclistes devant l'Hôtel Continental de Saïgon

Cigarettes Melia

Bueau de la Poste de Cholon

Cathédrale Notre-Dame Saïgon

Savon Viet-nam

La sortie de la messe le dimanche 16 octobre 1948

Cigarettes Mic Extra Cholon

Indochinoises en vlos

Cathedrale Notre Dame Saigon

Biere 33 Saigon

Jeune Garçon de Saïgon

Paris Tissus

Place Francis Garnier

Boulevard Charner Sagon

Jeune Vietnamienne

Cyclo-pousse, Renault 4CV Saïgon-Janvier 70

Souvenir de Sagon

Imprimeries et Librairies Indochinoises Saïgon

The Far East Air France

Charcutier Au Petit Saint-Antoine Sagon

Vue arienne sur Sagon

Le Docteur Irwin S. Leinbach devant son Ambulance Peugeot de l'Hôpital Cho-Ray de Saïgon

Jeunes Sagonnaises sur la rue Catinat

Rue Catinat Sagon

Htel Continental Cyclomoteur Mars 1951

Peugeot 203  Sagon

Amour en 4eme Vitesse avec Elvis Presley

Scooter Vespa Saigon

Rue commercante de Sagon

Saci Forges Ateliers et Chantiers Indochine

Marin vietnamien sur un Vélosolex à Saïgon

Catinat cine Saïgon

Café rue Catinat Saigon

Renault 4CV & Dauphine Boulevard Charner Saïgon

Le Thatre de Sagon en 1946

Citroen DS19 devant le temple Vinh Nghiem

Militaires sud-vietnamiens

La terrase d'un café de Saïgon

Hôtel de Ville Saïgon  Ford Vedette Citroën Traction

Citroën à Saïgon 1968

Hotel Caravelle Saïgon

Saigonnaise Ao Dai Saigon

Welcome to Saigon US Embassy 1961

Hotel Continental Saigon

Jeunes Saïgonnaise rue Catinat

publicit Coca-Cola Saïgon

Melia Cigarettes Saigon

Sagon Photo

Hôtel de Ville Saïgon  Ford Vedette Citroën Traction

Taxi Peugeot 202 Saïgon

Agence Havas Saigon

jeunes sagonnaises

La Pagode Saïgon

La Croix du Sud rue Catinat Saïgon

Cathedrale Notre Dame Saigon

Marchandes de Sagon

Caoutchouc Saigon

Le marchand de glaces Ple Nord  Sagon

La Maison Brodart, rue Catinat

La semaine a Sagon en 1961

Continental Hotel Saigon

Boulevard Charner Hôtel de Ville de Saïgon

Peugeot 403 Break

Grands Magasins Charner Saïgon

Derrire la cathdrale de Sagon

Un enfant sur un cyclo-moteur

Ford Vedette Saïgon

Saigonnaises sur les trottoirs de Saïgon

Velosolex devant le Parlement Novembre 1963

Etablissement Lucien Berthet Catinat Saïgon

Le Docteur Irwin S. Leinbach devant le Parlement Novembre 1963

Centre Ville de Saïgon

La Croix du Sud rue Catinat Saïgon

Hôtel Continental de Saïgon vu de la rue Catinat

Htel Continental Taxi Renault

Grand Hotel Saïgon

vendeuse ambulante

Jeune Vietnamienne

Le marchand de glaces Ple Nord  Sagon

Garage Charner Saigon

Bière 33 Brasseries et Glacières d'Indochine

Cinema Van Cam

La terrasse Cafe Sagon

Opticien Michaux Saigon

Peugeot 403 Bach

Rue Catinat Sagon

Bire Larue Vietnam

Solex Famililal à Saïgon

Boulevard Charner Sagon

Citroën Traction et Ford Vedette sur le boulevard Bonard à Saïgon

Souvenir de Sagon

Policiers sud-vietnamiens

Tramway centre-ville saigon

Savon Vietnam Saigon

Le Boulevard Charner Saigon

La Cathédrale Notre Dame Saigon

Le marchand de glaces Ple Nord  Sagon

Colette et son velosolex devant le Cafe Givral Saïgon

Cigarettes Nationales

Air France

Ligne Saigon-Cholon

Societé Indochinoise de Transports Saigon

Htel Continental Cyclomoteur 23 Juin 1947

En 1950 le Boulevard Charner Saïgon

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Drapeau Français

Catinat street
(now Đồng Khởi)

It got its name from the Admiral-Governor de la Grandièrele on February 1st, 1865, in honor of the corvette 'Catinat' (Nicholas Catinat was Maréchal of France from 1637 to 1712), which had taken part in the actions of 1856 at Tourane (Da Nang), and 1859 in Saigon.

Souvenirs de la rue Catinat Saigon

The famous Catinat street

Sarreau's Pharmacy in the 30's

Pharmacie Sarreau rue Catinat Saïgon

- 119-121-123 Catinat street

Majestic Hotel

Hotel Majestic Saigon Hotel Majestic Saïgon Hotel Majestic Saïgon

- " 4 « Denis Brothers »
- " 8-16 "The Palace Hotel", owned by Patrice Luciani.

The Saigon Palace

Palace Hotel SaïgonSaigon Palace Hotel

- at 18-16 "The Palace Hotel", owned by Patrice Luciani
- " 21 Radio Pathé radio and records dealer
- " 38 «International Philately »
- " 39 «Paris-Saigon» newspaper

Au Ménestrel
Radio-Asia

Au Ménestrel Saïgon

- " 41-45 Radio & equipment shop « Au Ménestrel »

Sipeo

Sipeo Distributeur Kodak Saïgon

- " 47 «Sipeo» Kodak Distributor
- " 56 The hairdreser «Chez Monique »

Grocery Store
Thai-Thach

Alimentation Générale Thai Thach Saïgon

- " 58-62 A grocery store «Thai-Thach »

Imprimeries & Librairies Indochinoises

Imprimeries et Librairies Indochinoises Saïgon Imprimeries et Librairies Indochinoises Saïgon Imprimeries et Librairies Indochinoises Saïgon

>

- " 64-70 A stationery and bookshop
« Société des Imprimeries et Librairies Indochinoises »

Catinat Hotel

La terrase d'un café de Saïgon

- " 69 the « Catinat Hotel »

Au Chalet

Bar-Restaurant Au Chalet Hotel Catinat Saigon

- at the ground floor of :
« Catinat hotel » is the famous Bar-Restaurant « Au Chalet »
- " 73-79 Fabrics & novelties
« O.A.Karime Jabbar & Cie »

La Croix du Sud
The Southern Cross

La Croix du Sud Catinat Street Saigon The Southern Cross Cafe Catinat Street Saigon Café : la Croix du Sud rue Catinat Saïgon

- " 80-82 «La Croix du Sud»
- « The Southern Cross» Bar

Nguyen Chi Hoa Novelties

Magasins Vêtements Saïgon

- " 83 A cotton & silk shop «Nguyen Chi Hoa»
- " 95 «Neptuna» Swimming Pool
- " 102 102 An optician «Michaux»

The children’s playground of the
Rue Catinat

  

Le Jardin d'enfants de la Rue Catinat

Specialty butcher shop
Au Petit Saint-Antoine

Charcutier Au Petit Saint-Antoine Saïgon

- " 108 Specialty butcher shop « Au Petit Saint-Antoine »
- " 114-116 Bar-Restaurant « Le Cintra »

Pharmacy from France

Grande Pharmacie de France à Saïgon

- " 109-113 A pharmacy« Pharmacie de France » Mr Mercier is the owner.

Butcher shop A.Guyonnet

  

Les commerces de la rue Catinat Saïgon

- " 121 A French butcher shop / deli, « A.Guyonnet »

  

Guyonnet French Butcher in Saigon Shops in Catinat Street Saigon

Shoe shop Bata

  

Bata Shoes Saigon Bata Shoes Saigon

- " 127-129 A shoe shop,
« Les Chaussures Bata »

The Maison Brodart

  

La Maison Brodart, rue Catinat Chez Brodard

- " 131-133 The « Brodard café »
featuring Viennese pastries, it’s still there, to this day.

L. Caffort Gunsmith

  

Armurerie Caffort, rue Catinat, Renault 4CV

- " 135-139 « L. Caffort » gunsmith.

Continental Hotel

Catinat Street in Saigon Catinat Street in Saigon Café rue Catinat Saigon

- " 132-134 Continental Hotel

les militaires français en vedette rue Catinat

- French soldiers next to the
Continental Hotel

French tourists with cyclomotor in saigon

- French tourists next to the
Continental Hotel

Photo Studio Paul Gastaldy

Paul Gastaldy Saigon

- " 136-138 138, photographer Paul Gastaldy’s “Photo Studio”.
- " 144 «Lyne Florist»

 

Provence Radio

Ducretet-ThomsonRadiola

 

Pizon Bros

- " 145 « Provence Radio »

Provence Radio Saïgon

 

Paris Tissus

  

Paris Tissus

- " 147 147 « Paris Tissus» de luxe silk goods

  

Catinat Ciné

  

Catinat cine Saïgon

- " 151 the non-stop cinema « Catinat Ciné », from 1 p.m. to midnight.

The Oasis

La Bar l'Oasis Saïgon

- " 152 « The Oasis » Bar

Alfana Goldsmith

Bijouterie de Saïgon

- " 154 « Alfana » Godsmith
- The “Nouveautés Catinat” store, formerly the Lucien Berthet establishment (Theater Square)
- " 157 Radio sales repairs « Alpha Radio »
- " 159 Pastry «Aux Délices »

Nouveautés Catinat Saïgon

Catinat Novelties
"Lucien Berthet"

Grocery Lucien Berthet Saigon Catinat Novelties Saigon Lucien Berthet Catinat Limited Saigon

- " 165 Lucien Berthet & Co "
Aux Nouveautés Catinat
Catinat Novelties (now Louis Vuitton !)

Yaourt Yalacta

- " 164 The Special Security
Commission Building
at the corner of Taberd Streer and La Grandière Street
- " 169 Café «Le Givral »

Albert Portail
Stationery and Bookshop

Albert Portail Stationery and Bookshop Saigon

Librairie Albert Portail

- " 185 à 193 « A.Portail Library »
Stationery- Library- Newspapers- Luxury items
Jif-Waterman

La Pagode

La Pagode à Saïgon French navy in 1955 on Le Loi Street Saigon Tea room La Pagode Saigon La Pagode Saigon

" 209 at the corner with 47-57 Lê-Loi street
Bar, Tearoom "La Pagode"

- " 213 213 Antique shop «La Perle»

Cathedral of Notre Dame

La Cathédrale Notre Dame Saigon La Cathédrale Notre Dame Saigon

Made by Didot Bottin in 1954
Publicita Agency
48 Aviateur Garros Street
Saigon

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Tu Do street after 1955
formely Catinat street

The famous Catinat Street would become Tu Do (Liberty) Street from 1955 to 1975 during the war between South- and North-Vietnam. After the fall of the South-Vietnamese government it would be renamed Dông Khoï (General Insurrection).

Hôtel Majestic Saigon

Tu Do Street
(now Đồng Khởi)

La rue Tu Do anciennement Catinat

Majestic Hotel Saigon Majestic Hotel Saigon Hôtel Majestic Saigon

- at 1 Majestic Hotel

The Saigon Palace

Le Saigon Palace Hotel

- 8-16 the Saigon Palace Hotel, at the ground floor Coya Tailor

Coya Tailor

Tailleur Coya Saigon Tailleur Coya Saigon

Eden Roc Hotel

Hôtel-Restaurant Eden Roc

- " 18-22 "Eden Roc" Hotel-Restaurant

Bar Star Light

Bar Star Light Saigon

- " 45 Bar "Star Light"

Night-Club rue Tu Do (Catinat)

The Neptuna swimming-pool

La Piscine Neptuna Saigon

- " 59 The Neptuna swimming-pool Massage and Steam bath

The Sporting Bar

The Sporting Bar Saïgon

- " 61 The Sporting Bar

Botany Tailor

Esquire Tailors Saïgon

- " 64 Botany Tailor

Esquire Tailors

Esquire Tailors Saïgon

- " 71 Esquire Tailor

Tu-Do Cabaret

Cabaret Tu-Do Saïgon Cabaret Tu-Do Saïgon

Akai information &
demonstration center

Esquire Tailors Saïgon

- " 80 Tu-Do Cabaret
Akai demonstration center

Bar Restaurant First

Bar Restaurant First rue Tu Do Saigon

- " 87 Bar-Restaurant "First"

Luong Tan

La rue Tu Do (formely-Catinat) Saigon

- " 91 Bazaar- Civil and military tailor

Optician Michaux

Opticien Michaux Saigon

- " 102 An optician Michaux

Air France

Air France

Air France Hotel Caravelle rue Tu Do Saigon

- "122-130 Air France

Hotel Caravelle

Hotel Caravelle Law-Son Square, Tu Do Street Saigon Hotel Caravelle place Law-Son, rue Tu Do Saigon

- "130 at the corner of Law-Son square (formely Theatre square)

Star Hotel Tu Do

Rue Tu Do (ex-Catinat) Saïgon

- " 123 Star Hotel & Windy Tu Do Snack Bar

The Maison Brodart "Le Bougnat"

 

Brodart-Le Bougnat Saigon La Maison Brodart, rue Tu Do saigon La Maison Brodart, rue Tu Do saigon

- " 131-133 The «Brodard café»

Continental Hotel

Inside the Continental Hotel La rue Tu Do anciennement Catinat Inside the Continental Hotel

- " 132-134 Continental Hotel

Rotary Club from Saigon downtow

Rotary de Saïgon-Centre

- " 134 The « Rotary Club » from Saigon downtown

Viet Long Jewelry

 

Tu Do Street (formely Catinat) Saigon

- "135-139 Viet Long Jewelry opposite to Caravelle Hotel.

Cars International

Cars International Honda

- " 138 Cars International "Honda"

Princess Bar

Princess Bar Saigon

- " 140 "Princess Bar" Chez Jeannine

Hair Clinic

Clinique du Cheveu Saigon

- " 142 Hair Clinic

Bombay Catinat

Bombay Catinat Saigon

- " 155 "Textiles Bombay Catinat"

The Givral Bar, Delicatessen
Cheeses, Pastries

Givral Saigon Givral Saigon

- " 169 "Givral Un Régal sans Égal... "

Eden Mall

Hôtels Continental & Caravelle Saigon

- At right one of the Eden Mall entrance

La Pagode

La Pagode Saigon

- " 209 "La Pagode" Pastries & Tea rom

Police Militaire américaine rue Catinat

During the American period, the businesses of the French colony would progressively disappear to make way for restaurants, cabarets, and night-clubs which would make an Asian Pigalle of the former Catinat Street.
Despite the attacks and bombings of the F.N.L., Tu Do Street would remain an island of tranquility where corruption, drug trafficking, and prostitution would prosper.
It was a time of easy money.

Tu Do Street (formely Catinat) Saigon

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The Hotel Continental

Hôtel Continental Saïgon

The Hotel Continental was built in 1880 by Pierre Cazeau, a contractor for a construction materials company. The Duke of Montpensier bought the hotel in the beginning of the 20th century for his girlfriend and later sold it to Mr. Frazetti who remained its owner until 1930. During the ’20’s, Catinat St. where the Hotel Continental was located became the “Canebière” (historic high street in the old quarter of Marseilles) of Saigon. The famous writer André Malraux and his wife Clara stayed there from 1924 to 1925. In 1930, Mathieu Franchini, a figure in the Corsican epic in Indochina, bought the hotel and successfully ran it for 30 years. During the Second World War many weekly magazine offices set up shop in the Continental: "Time" on the first floor, "Newsweek" on the second. After the defeat at Dien Bien Phu, Mathieu Franchini returned to Europe.
From 1964 to 1975 Mathieu Franchini’s son Philippe ran the hotel until the fall of the South Vietnamese government. In 1977 Philippe Franchini published an excellent book through the publishing house of Olivier Orban about the “Saigon Continental”, from which comes the following extract relating a situation that took place in the beginning of the 1950’s

At the Continental, at the table of the Senators which that of Oscar Berquet had followed in the first years of the century, and those of the twenty-two, were now seated the Corsicans, the old friends of my father, old colonials like himself. Whether they stayed inside the hotel at the edge of the garden or on the sidewalk, at the tip of the angle formed by Catinat St. and Theater square, they got together every day at apéritif-time and in the rediscovered aroma of pastis. Civil servants or peaceful magistrates, they always conversed in patois. It was their way of recapturing the spirit of the homeland, to feel the wind of the back country penetrating their lungs. Since they had been living in Indochina some of them had picked up the habit of opium. This explained the punctuality with which they arose to return home at the demanding time of the magic pipe. These reunions, to which the old colony had become accustomed, were nothing more than peaceful and normal, but to which new arrivals and transient foreigners attributed secret or less-than-honorable intentions. The Corsicans and their dialect both intrigued and irritated.

Hôtel Continental Taxi Renault Hôtel Continental de Saïgon Hôtel Continental Cyclomoteur 23 Juin 1947

The reasons for which reporters chose the Hotel Continental were quite simple, since it was located in the heart of Saigon across from the National Assembly (today the Municipal Theater) where the international press would get together to collect information on the various wars on the Indochina peninsula. At the end of the ‘40’s and beginning of the ‘50’s its terrace, nicknamed “Radio Catinat”, had again become the meeting-place for all-Saigon, the center of all intrigue and all the town’s gossip. Its famous restaurant “Le Perroquet” was never empty.
Patrons considered themselves at home at the Continental as André Malraux had done in the ‘30’s, and in the beginning of the ‘50’s the British author Graham Greene (a regular in room 214), author of the book “The Quiet American”, which was twice adapted for the screen in 1958 and 2002. It was a book that told of the last days of the French in Indochina, and the beginning of the American presence in the future Vietnam. (Greene was under suspicion because he belonged to the Secret Services of the United Kingdom, and was placed under surveillance by an agent of the Viet-Minh intelligence services).

Hôtel Continental Cyclomoteur Mars 1951 Hôtel Continental Cyclomoteur Mars 1951 Cashier Bar at the Continental Palace Hotel Saigon

Lucien Bodard was a famous reporter for “France-Soir” from 1948 to 1975, nicknamed “Lulu le Chinois” (“Chinese Lulu”) by his colleagues because of his birth in Chongging, Sichuan province, China in 1914.He was a war correspondent in Indochina from 1948 to 1955, and naturally, stayed at the Hotel Continental.
of course we can’t forget Jean Lartéguy either, who wrote “Farewell to Saigon” in 1975. It was written day-to-day in a room of the Hotel Continental in Saigon. Jean Lartéguy describes the final hours of a city he loved which bore the pretty name “Saigon”, and the birth of another, “Ho Chi Minh City”, which he doesn’t much care for. It’s also the farewell of the soldier, of the journalist, of the writer, to the country where he had known extraordinary adventures, the memory of which comes back during the long nights of the curfew.
The hotel closed in 1975 a few weeks after the fall of Saigon and reopened in 1989 after being nationalized. Today the Hotel Continental remains one of the greatest symbols of the French presence in Cochin China.
A magnificent bronze statue of Napoleon in the lobby remains as a testament to its Corsican owners.

Hôtel Continental Saïgon Hotel Continental Saigon 1965 Hôtel Continental Saigon 1965

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Hôtel Continental Saïgon Hôtel Continental Saïgon Hôtel Continental Saïgon Colette devant l'hôtel Continental Saïgon

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The Book and Stationery store of Albert Portail

Albert Portail Saigon Librairie Albert Portail Saigon

Mr. Albert Portail, founder of the company which bears his name, arrived in Saigon on April 13th, 1905, having been hired by the Ménard-Rey printing company, of which he became the manager in 1908.
In 1910, he acquired the New Coudurier & Montegout Printing Company, formerly the Claude Company, established in 1881. This printing company also featured a small book shop located at 109 Catinat Street, on the future site of the Pharmacie de France. In Phnom Penh it took up five storefronts on the docks. It was from these fragile beginnings that Mr. Portail would build the largest French book- and stationery establishment in the Far-East.
The store moved for the first time, to No. 177 Catinat Street, then in 1920, to No. 185 of the same street. Mr. Portail also built, starting in 1914, a large printing facility on the corner of Cornulier-Lucinière and Rudyard Kipling Streets. Finally in 1930, the expansion of his business in Phnom Penh led Mr. Portail to acquire a building located at No. 14 Avenue Boulloche, where he set up a modern printing shop as well as a book- and stationery store.
After the war, on January 1st, 1948, the Portail Printing Company of Saigon was sold to the Imprimerie Française d'Outre-Mer (The French Overseas Printing Company), Mr. Portail having decided to devote all his activities in South Vietnam to the book- and stationery business which was growing ever larger and which in 1949 led him to expand his stores which at the time took up five storefronts, from No. 185 to No. 193 Catinat Street..
Mr. Albert Portail, who had left Saigon for good in 1953 and had entrusted the management of his businesses in Indochina to his two sons, René and Ernest, had also created a Purchasing Bureau in Paris which was now located at No. 10, Chaussée d'Antin. From of the end of the Second World War, this Purchasing Bureau was run by his son René and his businesses in Indochina by his eldest son Ernest, who was assisted, until May 15th, 1953, by its Director, Mr. Henri Duqueyroix. Mr. Duqueyroix retired in 1954 and was replaced in his duties by Mr. René Marquet.
Propelled by this spirit of enterprise which remains an attribute of men of his generation, Albert Portail gave Indochina its largest distribution center for books, newspapers, magazines and periodicals from every nation and source.
The International Cultural Organisation of UNESCO and the UN also entrusted the sale of their publications to the A. Portail Bookstore.
Its creator could not have received a better tribute.
During the Second World War, despite his years, Mr. Albert Portail's conduct was a fine example of civic courage, worthy of his working past, as he was interned for many long months in the prisons of Chambéry, Saint-Paul d'Eyjeaux, Compiègne, and Fresnes.
It was therefore with some pride that he was able to regain what was always his motto:
Ad Augusta per Augusta
In his loose translation:
"The road to success bristles with difficulties".

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