FRANCE IS A GARDEN

[Music] spee for [Music] [Music] can France the land of contrast and Paradox be expressed in an all-inclusive formula or a single phrase consider some of the aspects that make this country unique among her European Neighbors [Music] France is a country of rich and rolling plains and also of Aer Baron mountains [Music] France is a land of [Music] farms of business of Industry it has always been a nation ready to tackle great projects [Music] yet France will always remain the small Craftsman's [Music] home life is easy in the great Mediterranean resort areas of Southern [Music] France but life is grim on the fog shrouded Atlantic Coast to the West [Music] where generations of fishermen's wives have anxiously awaited the return of the fleet French women are so greatly influenced by their local environment that even today it is difficult to find the typical one is she Madame de pador the shrewd little Parisian cortison or perhaps Jonah [Music] AR France is a land of Fate a nation of Cathedral Builders but it is also the home of valarian [Music] skepticism and it is in the shadow of this old ABY in the most conservative quarter of Paris were 20th century Bohemians contemporary artists writers and philosophers gather to argue sip wine and [Music] dream France may be the only country where white color workers Dawn cuffs to protect their sleeves at work but this is one of the Thrifty habits they practice in order that they may have money to enjoy their Pleasures more fully foreigners may think these typical French diversion but actually the most popular Recreations are fishing and Pon the local variety of bowling even so France has its share of brilliant athletes such as dorra and K sh Champion tennis players and skill acknowledged masters of the volley at age [Music] 55 France is the land of rules and regulations as well as the land of those who Delight in ignoring them despite this range of extremes of paradoxes and contrasts there is a basic unity in France it is expressed in a single idea let's look for a moment at this typical village where the houses have slate or tile roofs and where a medieval belfrey Towers over the more modern School the clue lies here on the lips of every French school boy France is the garden of Europe it is echoed by Jean jiru one of the great French authors who writes Frenchmen are gardeners naturally every Frenchman does not wear a straw hat nor does he always carry a rake around with him no we mean something quite different maybe people can help us understand this for example is Lou Mercier a lathe operator in a Paris Factory he is finishing up his day's work at the bench skillfully and conscientiously and every day when the whistle blows he gets on his bicycle and pedals home to his modest house in the suburbs but what is he doing today in downtown Paris cycling by the old porn one of the most handsome Bridges across the [Music] same now we see right here across from the book stalls that line the river are the best seed shops in [Music] [Music] town Lou has come all the way from the other side of Paris to buy leaks for his garden not just ordinary leaks mind you he insists on the variety known as giant Emerald you can't buy tasty leaks like that in the market to appreciate their full flavor you must select the seeds sew them and cultivate the choots in a patch of ground which no matter how small has the one advantage of being all your own [Music] [Music] and here is another Frenchman old farmer jacu just coming in from a hard day of autumn plowing [Music] [Music] his farm borders the local Chateau farmer and Squire are neighbors and good neighbors don't pass by each other without a greeting Bon fine weather for your Lawns and also for my Fields but for the time being let's leave the old Squire and his Chateau and join farmer jaaku who has just arrived his [Music] farm the working day has ended and it is time to find peace and relaxation will jaku take down his gun and go hunting for quo or will he join his friends over a glass down at the Inn no indeed old jaku prefers his garden but don't think he's working a farmer tills his Fields because he musts it's his job but gardening is his relaxation his feels look like those of his neighbors but his garden is quite [Music] unique a crystallization of his own imagination [Music] and here is a third Frenchman a notary a town official you seem to be in a great hurry M deponti for why are you leaving your office so early and with such great [Music] strides and why do you pass right by your front door in order to enter by the G gate you're too late it's already happened that long awaited event the whole family is bubbling with excitement the pearl of your Cactus collection the rare plant which flowers only once every four years came into bloom this afternoon [Music] our notary's garden seems typically French and this is because he has created a harmonious blend of the pleasant and the useful of flowers and fruits a blend symbolizing the ju position of luxury and toil the word Garder in French covers both the man who cultivates his garden as well as the artist who designs it gardening in France is more than just a hobby it is a way of life [Music] [Music] a notary is something of a historian our friend is no exception in his Library we can trace the whole history of French civilization through the image of French Gardens alone [Music] during the Middle Ages when Germany was still a forest and England a rolling heat there were already neatly cultivated Fields all over France Gardens that were real works of art were planted within the walls of the castles and in them the art of gallantry was born an art that later spread all over Europe after the Renaissance King Louis I 14th called the Sun King ushered in France's proudest Century by building versailes the most beautiful palace of all right in the center of a magnificent series of gardens [Music] this Marvel of good taste and formalism expressing a triumphant bending of nature to the will of man was designed by Leno the greatest of all French gardeners a perfect example of classical art this work is as logical as the philosophy of deart as AER as the 17th century French theater typified by Russ and as elegant as the music of Luli as symmetrical as this facade designed by the great architect [Music] molar even today the great Fountains of earthy symbolize the flowering of French culture during the Golden Age of royalty [Music] all but we can find a totally different style on the other side of the park at the petite triono in just a few steps we have crossed 200 years it was here in this replica of a country Retreat that Marie Antoinette dressed up as a simple shepher the spirit of pure reason had given way to Gentle sentiment a desire to live a life of rust IC Simplicity one of the early Advocates of this Return To Nature was Jean jaac Russo philosopher and author of The musings of a solitary stroller just like this nature lover Russo enjoyed studying plant life on the shores of ammonia Lake on an island of popplers can be found his tomb Russo has been called the father of Romanticism and the French Revolution yet he is only one of the many who Advance the cause of Liberty which change not only France's form of government but also the style of her Gardens basti day is vigorously celebrated by Frenchmen as the birth dat to French democracy over 150 years ago in place of the Royal Gardens we find the Democratic Public Gardens there is one in every community no matter how small and it is the natural setting for the traditional July 14th [Music] W unless the great national holiday every farmer and his family flocks to the local Town including the squires proud AER count tamur symbolic of ancient France joins in the fun by asking the notary's wife to [Music] dance and farmer jaaku dressed at in Sunday Best escorts his daughter to the party who is her first partner the notary of course M Deon deor and you can be sure that it isn't only on July 14th anniversary of the fall of the basti prison that the nobility hobnobs with Ordinary People how can class barriers hold out against hundreds of years of Community Living everybody knows each other here the real life of France is the life of the provinces France is a country where there is a little town just like this one every 10 miles or so there are mostly small towns in France and a few cities [Music] but the one city the big city of course is Paris to study Paris from the aspect we have chosen we must take a bird's eye view of the city from the first platform of the Eiffel Tower let's try to pick out the little islands of green among the Sea of roots Paris may have less green space than London or New York but then each of the Paris Gardens has a personality all of its own [Music] at the end of The Avenue deiz on the right bank is the twer re the garden of Elan but flowers are only one of its popular attractions [Music] eventually these creations fashioned by the great Paris dress makers will be seen in every capital of the world but first they must pass mustard before the Unseen gaze of the [Music] statues and also before the critical eye of Mimi the Parisian meet or [Music] seam behind the carousel art stands the l once the Palace of Kings now the most famous art gallery of all let us pay passing tribute to the monaa and ReDiscover in French painting our original Garden theme in the works of such artists as wat and Cloe [Music] Mona and one day this picture too may find its way into the lbe it is the brush of edar guer at work on a scene in the Luxembourg Gardens [Music] these are on the Left Bank they belong to the Latin quarter the park is filled with children and students who have come to study or to dream before the mediche fountain [Music] [Music] here is the Sun and the [Music] ponon where vikor Ugo the people's poet and Jean jarz the political philosopher lie side by [Music] side not every section of Paris is so elegant but even in belelli an older quarter of the city the workers too have their Gardens the park is not always as crowded as this but today is May Day and there the Festival of spring all those in the neighborhood who were unable to go to the country come to walk up the badir a small hill Mimi the meet enhances her new spring Ensemble with a spray of lies of the valley at the top of the hill in this popular rendevu someone is waiting who is it Louis Mercier the lathe operator of court [Music] at the end of a wonderful day Mimi returned somewhat reluctantly to her garden the one she has planted on her balcony [Music] but let us take leave of Mimi and parents let's visit a beautiful region known as The Garden of France where wild flowers grow side by side with the Royal Lily [Music] it is Lair Valley a country of Splendid chatau where the inhabitants speak the purest French and sing the most beautiful [Music] songs foree [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] more than anywhere else on Earth the landscape in France has been molded by man [Music] worked on for centuries divided and red divided endlessly every inch of the country presents a perfect balance of fields under cultivation of buildings and of running Waters the highways are like country packs every stock recalls a forest the smallest pool is an ornamental Pond a watering trough has the nobility of a fountain and even the bridges seem to have been built to please the eye [Music] [Music] [Music] every French school boy knows Jean jaac Russo's famous Maxim if I were rich I would not waste time building a large house I would live on the slope of a pleasant Shady Hill in a small rustic house a white house with green shutters and although a thatched roof is the best for all weathers I would choose not gloomy slates but tiles because they seem cleaner and gayer than that gayy country work and joyful gains are the finest Cooks in the world the dining room would be everywhere under a tree on the soft green [Music] grass the rim of the fountain would be my sideboard and my desert would be hanging from the [Music] tree today a 100 years later every Humble City dweller shares Russo's dream the only fruit I like said mad the saf is the fruit for my own garden that typically French art the art of good eating begins with a selection of an artichoke or a [Music] lettuce there is of course the great Cuisine of The Gourmet the Glorious dishes salmon ala shambor hair ala Royal and the impeccable service of the great Paris restant [Music] but the art of good cooking in France is also demonstrated in the preparation of a salad the lettuce must first be dressed with a single spoonful of oil so that the tender leaves will not be attacked too brutally by the vinegar [Music] one must be a gardener to appreciate such niceties just as one must be something of a wine grower to appreciate good wine [Music] member of the French Academy and Nobel Prize winner franois morak taste the soan from his own Vines will it have that bouquet which the finest vintages receive from the Autumn Sun [Music] the Frenchman acquires his love of continuity in Traditions and family from serving Nature's needs as the seasons change [Music] what Folly to plant at his age he'll not taste the fruits of Labor lonen may have written this Fable in a sarcastic vein but in this case the moral is different the Country Squire c taror will never see this sapling grow into a sturdy tree but he respects the old custom which decrees that the head of a family must himself self plant a tree each time a new descendant is born on such things are built the Splendor of a park and the greatness of a [Music] nation in France a garden is always enclosed by a carefully kept hedge fence or wall for protection as the old proverb goes gardeners do not like to find stones in their Gardens the Frenchman has a sense both for individuality and ownership and he instinctively keeps the same watchful eye on the walls of his private life and the frontiers of his country but if one travels along the roads of France from north to south and from east to west he finds that despite the impression of being closed in upon itself France has always been a Crossroads of Nations perhaps in the very center of France one may still find a few of the original inhabitants a race of small thick set mountain people swarthy and round headed but near the ancient monolithic mener of Britany erected at least 2,000 years ago lives a Celtic race which undoubtedly can trace its origin to the British Isles in spite of today's GIC mustaches many of the river barges that ply the San are manned by Breton Sailors with Nordic Blue Eyes a lasting vestage of the early Viking occupation on the riverbank [Music] this patriotic Alan is a cousin a first cousin one might say of the fraw lines from across the Ry in the south of France with its many traces of the ancient Latin world the girls of ARL still have profiles like the women of ancient [Music] Rome the renowned school of medicine at M peler was founded by Medieval [Music] Era today Mel's botanical gardens containing trees from every corner of the globe symbolize the universal quality of French culture seasoned by the contributions of many foreign peoples rightfully this International Garden is regularly visited by students of the French Union who have come from every continent West [Music] Indies hey [Music] Asia Africa [Music] worldwide Commerce continues to be an important pillar of the economic structure of France from across the seas through this wide Estuary of the river ziron comes the crude oil so vitally necessary to every great industrial nation [Music] we seem to have wandered far from our little man with a straw hat but have we really the fact that the tiniest little water course is always a work of art makes it easier perhaps to understand the work of the French Engineers who who diverting the whole course of the River Rome have constructed the most beautiful hydroelectric plant in [Music] Europe today France expresses herself in concrete as yesterday she did in Marble always with the same blend of grandeur and moderation of balance and Imagination these are the virtues of the country of rose and lilacs where everything ends with a [Music] song foreign [Music] [Music] speee fore [Music] [Music] foree [Music] for for [Music] [Music] [Music] we