At one point, Baba spoke with Max about Saint Francis of Assisi, stating that Francis was a Perfect Master.

That evening, as the plane approached Paris, Baba asked Max, "Should I put on socks?" Thinking Paris would be cooler than Zurich, Max said yes. Baba followed his advice, but it proved wrong, as the temperature was warmer.

Two years prior, a French friend of Philippe Dupuis, named C. E. Dubrunfaut, had contacted Max about Baba, detailing to Max the many occult experiences he had had over the years. Max showed Baba a letter from him stating his desire to meet Baba, saying he would be waiting at the airport if Baba agreed to see him. Baba did agree and saw him briefly when the plane landed in Paris. They sat at a table at an airport café. Baba asked Dubrunfaut if he had read God Speaks and urged him to do so. "You have some far and very old connections with me," Baba told him. Max was instructed to read God Speaks four times.

Pointing to a glass of orange juice that Dubrunfaut had ordered, Baba commented that Spiritual Masters of old would show their love for their disciples by having a drink with them. Baba then compared the intoxication gained from wine to that which is acquired through divine love: "In drunkenness a man forgets himself, but in the intoxication of divine love, a person loses himself in divine love and forgets everything — including himself."

He left Dubrunfaut with these words: "May you begin loving Baba, who is ancient!"

Flying from Paris, they had dinner on the plane and landed in London at 8:15 P.M. on Tuesday, 17 July 1956. Will and Mary Backett, Charles Purdom, Delia DeLeon, Minta Toledano and her new husband, Glynn Barton, were present to receive him. In four cars, Baba and the mandali were driven to the Rubens Hotel, where Baba had stayed before in 1952. Although Baba's car left the airport first, it was the last to reach the hotel, where others were waiting to greet him.

Upon arrival, Baba was noticeably tired. He had not slept for three days en route. He stood at the back of a crowded elevator to go up to his room. Will Backett wrote that he appeared "a rather tired, pathetic figure, amidst the other hotel guests; an eloquent tribute to that humility with which Perfection is garbed."

A comfortable suite had been reserved for Baba and another for the mandali, and also a large hall on the ground floor for darshan and interviews. (Will, Mary, Delia and Keith Secker stayed at the hotel with Baba.) Although exhausted, Baba sent a message that he would see those who had been waiting at the hotel for him in his room. The group who had met him at the airport were also invited, and he spoke with them briefly, stating he would give personal interviews the next morning.