He became friends with Alexis Leger (later Saint-John Perse, who would maintain a friendship of more than sixty years.
In 1938, he was a deputy director of the Europe division at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He rallied to Free France and headed the civil service of the military mission in Washington, DC.
He aimed to restore confidence between the two countries, aided by the consul general of France in Geneva, Xavier de Gaulle, who served from 1944 to 1953.
Together with his wife, Hélène, who was an accomplished photographer, he produced the book Extrême-Orient (Ides et Calendes, 1951) with photos taken in the Far East.