Kennedy continues his road to Perpignan.




In the summer Joe Kennedy Jr and Aimee Sottomaior meet again
in the South of France.



The Kennedy family stayed at the Hotel du Cap.
The picture is taken 1939 July at the cabanas,
sitting on a small cliff above the Mediterranian.

Outbreak of World War 2


1939 Sep 1 German troups attack Poland.


1939 Sep 3 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
declares war on Germany.



Above picture shows Joe Kennedy Jr,
Kathleen Kennedy on John F Kennedy
on their way to the British Parliament
to assist to the official war declaration by the United Kingdom


John F kennedy reading a newspaper about WW2




With all information transmitted to President Vargas
Paris was becoming to dangerous for Aimée,
German Secret service agents were in Rio de Janeiro
and someone had become aware of Aimées efforts
to distance Vargas from Germany.


1939 Aimée got the message to dissapear immediately.
She leaves everything at the Hotel Plaza Athenée
told the concierge she was visiting a friend in the country.
In reality shewas hiding in Meudon waiting for a way to leave France.


1939 November 15
Aimée took the ferry
from Le Havre to New York.
Her ticket was in the name of "Madame Lopes"






Leaving Europe
Lobbying efforts to influence Roosevelt
Anti Hitler activist in New York
Arriving in New York
Aimee and her sister Vera took a fancy flat in Manhattan, Park Avenue.
The state of Brazil continued to finance her.


Joe Kennedy Jr was now needed as an ally to convince
the Roosevelt Administration to take
action against the German regime.

The difficulty was also that Joe Kennedy Sr
had a more pro German point of view.
The relationship between Kennedy Sr
and President Roosevelt had become complicated.


Back in 1936 Aimée had already met President Roosevelt in Brazil
but it was difficult to rapproach him.


Aimée used all her know-how
to meet influential Americans
and to push them to take action against the Nazis.

Joe Kennedy Jr knew the sons of President Roosevelt,
James Roosevelt (1907 - 1991)
Franklin D Roosevelt Jr (1914 - 1988)
and John Roosevelt (1916 - 1981)



Even after the German invasion of Poland
and the outbreak of World War 2 (Aimee was still in Paris)

Roosevelt wanted to keep the United States out of war.
War in Europe divided the American opinion into two camps:
non-interventionists and interventionists.

Ambassador Joe Kennedy Sr was also among those
that wanted to keep America out of the war.

Kennedy Sr was getting more and more isolated in Britain.
Churchill disconsidered Kennedy Sr
and started to communicated with Roosevelt directly.

1940 May Germany invaded France
resulting in the fall of the Chamberlain government in Britain.

1940 May 10 Winston Churchill became British Prime Minister
Churchill wanted to have Kennedy removed as the American Ambassador.

1940 October 22 Joe Kennedy Sr was send back to the United States.
He was replaced by John Winant (1889 - 1947)


1940 Nov 5 Roosevelt reelected President of the United States for the 3rd time
promising his voters not to involve in foreign wars if he were re-elected.

1940 / 1941 multiple efforts of Aimée
to influence Roosevelt to take action against Germany.

Joe Kennedy Jr and Aimée
already had plans for the White House
and Rose Kennedy, the mother
thought that Aimée would be a great asset for her son.

It's only that nobody knew that Aimée was much older than imagined.
Well her age was her ultimate secret.
The editor of this article did not know it for 20 years,
until she told him 2006, a few days before leaving this world.



1941 Joe Kennedy Jr became part of the US Navy.
Kennedy withdrew before his final year at Harvard Law School to enlist in the U.S. Naval Reserve.


1941 Dec 11 President Franklin D Roosevelt signed the American declaration of war against Germany.
1942 May 5 Joe Kennedy received his wings as a naval aviator.
1942 Aug 22 President Vargas signs the Brazilian declaration of war against Germany.

1943 Joe Kennedy Jr returned to Britain to work on anti German submarine missions.
Aimée did not want him to.



1944 June 6 Allied troups landed in Normandy to liberate France

1944 July 1 Kennedy had completed 25 combat missions
and was elegible to be send home.


1944 Aug 12 Mission Aphrodite
Joe Kennedy Jr and his copilot Wilford Willy got the mission to attack
Mimoyecques, a German missle bunker located near Boulogne sur Mer
on the French coast of the channel.

The plane loaded with explosives was planned
to fly right into the bunker from where German missles were send to London.
The two pilots were supposed to jump off the plane
but the bomber exploded in the air
above the Blythe Etsuary on the British coast
not reaching his target on the other side of the channel.

Joe Kennedy Jr dies at age 29 for the Liberation of France.
His body was never found




1944 Aug 24 Liberation of Meudon by the Division Leclerc
1944 Aug 25 Liberation of Paris

1945 Mai 8 End of World War 2 in Europe

1946 Creation of a Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr Foundation in memory of Joe Kennedy Jr



1961 Jan 20 John F Kennedy became the 35th President of the United States



The friendship between Aimée and
the Kennedy family lasted for a lifetime


Most of the time Aimée and the Kennedy family met in Palm Beach

1095 North Ocean Boulevard Palm Beach
was a childhood place for Joe Kennedy Jr
and until the 1995 death of Rose Kennedy
a winter home for the Kennedy family.

Aimée lived not very far at 473 North County Road Palm Beach.

Half a century later
Meeting the secret service agent Aimée

Well it is not every day
a young student has the chance
to run into one of the World's major secret service agents.


And like everybody else he had no idea about her real age ...

They met thanks to Johannes Thurn und Taxis
a friend from Bavaria they shared in common.


Aimée liked to have young friends.
Also it was very practical for her
that the her new friend, editor of this article, had a car.


Both the editor of this article and Aimée
knew the legends about the Cremerie de Paris
which kind of enhanced their friendship.

Cremerie de Paris reminded
Aimée of her friend Coco Chanel
and of her Love Story with Joe Kennedy Jr.



Above picture shows Aimée sitting on the terrace
of La Roseraie, her house in Biarritz,
one of the rare moments
when she was telling stories from her past.

The most beautiful one
was the Kennedy story.



It was about a young man she had met
half a century before.
An American pilot that had died age 29 at the end of WW2
in the battle to liberate France.

A long time ago, at the beginning of the war,
he had helped her to transmit secret documents
to the Rossevelt administation
and to take influence on American decision makers
so that the United States
would prepare to take action against the Nazi terror in Europe.

Aimée had met many people,
but Joe was the one that had stayed in her heart
more than anybody else.
WW2 had ended their story,
but nothing could make him leave her mind.

It was touching to see that a young man
that had died half a century before
was still in the heart of an older woman,
a woman that was still so beautiful
people turned around on the street when she was walked by.



Cremerie de Paris

1993 Cremerie de Paris N°1 was for rent.
The editor of this article already had two little shops
next to the legendary Cremerie
but he was only 25
and too young to be accepted buy the owner.

Aimée loved the place because it reminded her
about Joe Kennedy Jr
and also about her friend Gabrielle Chanel.

In the late sixties the designer Gabrielle Chanel
and Aimée used to walk to the Cremeries at night
to share souvenirs of the past.
Joe Kennedy Jr was in the heart of Aimée
Dmitri Romanov in the heart of Gabrielle Chanel.

Aimée suggested not to rent
but to buy Cremerie de Paris.
With the help of a little jewel left to her by Gabrielle Chanel
is became possible to get a bank loan.

Cremerie de Paris became the very first Internet Cafe in Paris.
At that time French Hotels were not jet connected
and Internet made us run into fascinating web Pioneers,
almost all of them were Americans
where Internet was already getting used.


This is how we had the idea
to get our Two Letter domain VB.com
but Internet is another story.




Meeting the man from the Moon

A little connected to the Kennedy story
was an Apollo 11 astronaut
that Joe's younger brother
JFK Kennedy had decided to send to the moon.

Buzz Alrin, the editor of this article has had the chance
to meet whenever he came to Paris
at least a dozend times,
was fascinated by Aimée
and her links to the Kennedys.



Meeting the Kennedys

The editor of this article
had the chance to meet Joe's Kennedy's youngest brother Ted.

The Senator came to Paris many times
always staying at the Ritz Hotel
and always meeting with Aimée when she was in town.

Once he drove Aimée and Senator Kennedy to Meudon
to visit the Cedre Imperial.

Bye Bye Aimée
2006 Aug 3
for 19 years Aimee had invited
the editor of this article
to celebrate her birthday in Biarritz.



The editor of thie article had the priviledge
to come pick her up every year
at the Charles de Gaulle airport ...

June was party time in Paris.
While driving from the airport to rue de Varenne
projects of uncountable invitations
he would soon be allowed to accompany her
before her invitation
to wonderful summer vacation in Biarritz
starting at the end of July.


When walking with Aimée nearby
nearby the Biarritz lighthouse
she sometimes mentionned
that Joe had been there long time ago.


But 2006 no call to come pick her up,
weeks go by
End of July
her US secretary Dania Flores called
"Madame de Heeren cannot come to Paris,
she wants to know if you can come to New York
to be with her for her birthday."

Remembering Aimée
Discovering more about her past
and about her Kennedy story


After Aimée had left this World
the editor of this article
started to really miss her
so he started to research her past.


Sometimes he visited the Cedre Imperial in Meudon
remembering all the stories Aimée had told him,
as if it had been possible to bypass
the barriers of time.

Wasn't it kind of crazy to have been connected
to so many stories that have happened
such a long long time ago ...



Reopening Cremerie de Paris

2005 something sad happened to Cremerie de Paris N°1
The internet cafe closed, it was rented out
and all it's magic fell asleep.




2011, five years after Aimée's departure
Cremerie de Paris No1 reopened as a Brand Expo Museum.

Without all the glamour and history linked to Aimée
we would never have been able
to turn the place into a
Meeting Place of the World's most famous Brands.



Cremerie de Paris buildings in the heart of Paris
show some history on their walls.
Each Boutique has it's history going back to the year 1129.


Joe Kennedy is mentioned
above Cremerie de Paris No3 / Restaurant Gladines.
Sometimes people passing through the center of Paris
read it ...

The place is easy to find
facing the "Entrance Gate to the heart of Paris"
the main metro exit of Chatelet les Halles
with a 30 min train connection to airport CDG
Chatelet les Halles.com/sortie1

If ever you should come to Paris
come by and rest a moment.

Think about the oldest Kennedy child.
It's a place that has crossed his path
84 years ago.

Gladines is not a hi-end restaurant.
It is simple, but everybody working there
has a unique touch of glamour.
And right opposit you see the Pop Up Store
events currently going on at Cremerie de Paris N°1

Cedre Imperial Meudon

But there is another place
linked to Joe Kennedy Jr.
The already mentioned tree in Meudon
connected to the Love Story between
Aimée de Heeren & Joe Kennedy Jr

Some friends told the editor of this article
to write about it
"You have had acces to unbeleivable stories
nobody alive today knows about,
you must keep records about it"

What would Aimée think ?


2015 July 25 100th birthday of Joe Kennedy Jr



2017 May 29 100th birthday of John F Kennedy







2021 March 5
Sad news in the city of Meudon

City administrators want to
"Tear down the Cedre Imperial
to make place for a real estate project".



The grounds of the beautiful Cedre Imperial
are owned by the city of Meudon.
Some people in the city administation
want to get rid of the tree
to construct a car park
and a municipal building.

The centuries old Cedar is blocking the project.


The editor of the article immediately knew
Aimée would do everything
to avoid such a disaster.
Maybe the time had come to write
about Joe Kennedy Jr
and their connection with the tree ...


As a reaction to the plans
an association was formed asking to sign a petition.

Many older people in the city were sad,
but they did not know what to do.

Many people thought
that cutting down the Cedre Imperial
would be a shame
also in regards to history.



Children started to make paintings the tree,
hundreds of children from Paris and also from Israel.
The paintings were posted on instagram with the hashtag #cedreimperialmeudon
An instagram account was created @cedreimperialmeudon9
Cremerie de Paris organised an expo for the tree

Google Maps listed the tree as a landmark.

The editor of this article created the website Cedre Imperial Meudon.com
and started to write down
all he knew from Aimée about the history of the tree.
As France was in a Corona Lockdown,
there was a lot of time to research documents
an the stories he had heared.


The Swiss German artist Stephany von Fuerstenberg started a jewelry collection in honor of the cedar.
The Cedre Imperial appeared on the cover of the Phone Book of the World
and of the French Whitepages





Saving the Cedre Imperial Meudon
When telling a friend
that something needed to be done
to save the beautiful tree,
she replied
"Je te souhaite bien du courage"
which means
"Good luck, but I don't think you have any chance"




A little miracle happened

Denis Larghero
the mayor of Meudon that had decided to cut the tree
listened to all those that love it.

In the last minute
the destruction of the tree was canceled
giving the cedar a 7 years observation period.

It is not every day a mayor
listens to people that try to protect a tree
and many people are grateful for it.




2021 May 8 speach in French
by Denis Larghero, mayor of Meudon
at the occasion of the end of WW2




Maybe the aura of Joe Kennedy Jr
has also contributed a little to save the Cedre Imperial.

If ever you come to Paris
visit the tree
that is a beautiful souvenir
of Joe Kennedy Jr
and Aimée de Heeren.

Once you are there meditate for a moment
and you will see
that the Cedre Imperial
sends out a lot of good energy ...

His address is
11 rue de la Republique
92190 Meudon near Paris

From Paris take a cab,
The cedre 6.6 km west of the Eiffel Tower.

You can also take a train
RER C from Paris to Meudon Val Fleury

Delicious restaurants like La table de Meudon
or Olivia are walking distance from the tree.

Meudon is a beautiful place
full of beautiful 19th century houses
still preserved
from realestate promotion.


There are hundreds of John F Kennedy streets, bridges
In the 16 arrondissmement of Paris
Avenue John F Kennedy
leads to the town of Meudon.

No street, no avenue, no bridge
nothing for Joe Kennedy Jr.


Real estate developpers still want to cut the tree
but maybe in the future
instead of replacing the Cedre Imperial
by a building
it could be an idea to create
a garden around the tree
and name it
Joe Kenney Jr & Aimée de Heeren Square.

A souvenir of a magical Love Story
that started in Meudon
and that later
contributed to the liberation of France.




Unfortunately since years
the tree is not getting enough water.
Too much of the grounds around it
are covered with ciment and road surface.
So for the moment people living in the town
bring water with watering cans by hand.

Cedar trees get very very old,
all they need is enough space,
enough water
and maybe a little bit of love and attention ...











In case you have more pictures
about Joe Kennedy Jr
or about Aimée Sottomaior / Aimée de Heeren
we can add
to this article
please contact us
mail: b "at vb.com


Connected Articles:
most images come from John F Kennedy Library
Aimee de Heeren.com

The Kennedys at Palm Beach by New York Social Diary

Kennedy trip to Ireland
Kick Kennedy by Telegraph

Expo Jacky Kennedy by Musee des Arts Decoratifs Paris
Meudon during WW2

Remebering Joe Kennedy Jr by Air and Space Museum

Joseph P Jr Foundation / JPKF