The Pension Beaurepas

Two American families are staying at the Pension Beaurepas in Geneva - the young narrator observes them, as does M. Pigeonneau, an older Frenchman. The novella contrasts their characters and their different ways of "being American". Despite the vaunted "freedom" of American society, several of the Americans show a shocking insensibility to the feelings and mores of not only the Europeans, but also their own family members - those who do not fit their mold and those who bankroll their extravagance.