France is capricious and contradictory; she's traditional and revolutionary; she's archaic and ultra-modern. She exalts in joie-de-vivre and pops anti-depressants. She disdains the vulgar marketplace, but sells her aircraft, haute couture, wines, and nuclear plants around the world. She is not a nation - she is a civilization. In this 5-part series, broadcaster Gilbert Reid explores whether France - and her charms - can survive the 21st century.

Read more about Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

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For centuries, people have dreamed of living in France. France meant art, culture, philosophy. France meant romance. Paris meant a license to be naughty - or, even, to be yourself. Intellectuals and aristocrats - heiresses and millionaires - all headed for France. Audrey Hepburn sang in France. James Joyce wrote in France. Gene Kelly danced in France. Picasso painted in France. And Paris was, Ernest Hemingway told us, a Moveable Feast.

This five-part series is about modern France, the country that gave the world the ideals of liberty, equality and brotherhood - and perfected the art of living.

But has France ever really been the country we dreamed of? And how, in recent decades of explosive change, has France adapted?

Our guide is the writer, Gilbert Reid. Gilbert studied in France, and worked there as an economist.

In 1965, I saw a hilarious film called What's New, Pussycat. Peter O'Toole was a magazine editor living in Paris. His life was perfect, but he had one problem. All the beautiful women he met, fell in love with him. And Paris was full of beautiful women. Peter couldn't resist. It was classic French farce - done over, Woody Allen style. People running in and out of bedrooms. People hiding in closets or wicker baskets. Beautiful girls - all rushing around in a frenzy of titillation. Every boy's dream. Right, I decided. I absolutely must live in France.

I first arrived in France aboard a small coal-burning train that was winding its way - along the Alpine foothills. The heat vibrated off the rails.

The engine puffed out black clouds, and flakes of soot swirled around as I leaned out the window. Then, suddenly, far below, the Mediterranean appeared.

Deep blue, the light rippling over the rocks, steep white cliffs plunging down, amid villas and umbrella pines. And so I arrived, covered in soot - in paradise.

Nice, France. The breezes were balmy.The cafes were full.The girls were sleek in their bikinis. The talk was sharp-edged, witty, subtle, and bold. And so it began, my life-long love affair, with France.

Recently I returned, to compare the France that entranced me then with the real France, and with the France of today.

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Episode 1 - Paradise Lost

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The French have perfected the art of "la joie de vivre". They know how to fill the routines of every-day life with small pleasures - with beauty, fine food, wines, cafes. But many French pleasures are under threat by the forces of modernization.

In addition, there is a shadow over the brilliant classical balance of French civilization. Off one side of the Place de la Trocadéro, there's a vast platform looking over Paris. When you stand on it, you can see across the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. But for many older French people, this spectacular view is tainted. They can't help but remember the famous photograph of Adolf Hitler, posing here on June 23, 1940. The German army had just defeated France, ushering in the occupation and the French government that collaborated with the Nazis.

France is a reality - and an idea. It's easy to fall in love with the idea - lofty, heroic, idealistic, stylish, and rich in contentious debate. Then there's the reality, which can dazzle, disappoint, or betray.

Episode 2 - The Great Nation Listen


Through thousands of years and thousands of stories - back to the very beginning, when Clovis was baptized with holy oil brought by a dove sent from God, memory runs deep in France.

Each French citizen is a repository of myths, symbols - and traumas, which taken altogether, create a distinct national identity. From the Revolution, which gave France its ideals of "liberté, égalité et fraternité", to the glories of Napoleon, to the horrific losses in WW I, the shame of collaboration in WW II, and the heroism of De Gaulle and the resistance, stories define the way the French think about themselves today.

Episode 3 - Is France Burning?

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One evening in October 2005, in a high rise suburb outside Paris, three teenagers - all from immigrant families were being chased by the police. They hid inside a power transformer . They were electrocuted, and two of the boys died instantly.

Riots spread through France - 9,000 cars were burned, and almost 3,000 people were arrested. The government declared a state of emergency.

And the crisis with young immigrants is not over. Why, in the country of liberté, égalité, et fraternité, is there so much conflict with its newest, and youngest, citizens?

Episode 4 - Permanent Revolution

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In 1789, over 200 years ago, a mob stormed the Bastille Prison, triggering the French Revolution. The Revolution condemned thousands to the guillotine, started 20 years of war in Europe, and declared the universal principles of "liberty, equality, and fraternity". The aftershocks of the Revolution still reverberate in France today, with crowds, who invoke the revolutionary tradition, taking to the streets to object to government policy, and with governments, frequently, cowering in fear at what the mob might do. France has struggled to find a balance between revolution and stability.

Episode 5 - The French Model

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In September 2008, Time Magazine ran a frightening story about the meltdown of the US economy: How we became the United States of France.

France has always stubbornly rejected the freewheeling, "take-no-prisoners" capitalism of the United States. France has its own model. It's called "dirigisme". In this version of capitalism, the government directs, and often owns vast sectors of the economy. In recent decades, France itself has questioned this model. But, as the global economic crisis deepens, the role of government is growing in other countries as well. In the final episode of our series Gilbert Reid examines the current state of "dirigisme" in its country of origin. Who came up with this approach? How did it create modern France? And does it still work?

Resources

Many people and organizations helped during the preparation for this series.

Robert Solé, editorial writer with Le Monde.

Agnès Poirier, journalist and author of Touche - A French Woman's Take on the English.

The ladies who operate La Fromagerie, the cheese shop at 8 rue des Petits Carreaux, Paris.

Véronique Richez-Lerouge, who invented a "Cheese Calendar" to defend traditional French cheese

Jean-Robert Pitte, one of France's leading geographers, historian of food and cooking and former President of the Sorbonne

Patricia Wells, author and ambassador for French cooking

Andrew Hussey, author of Paris: the Secret History, and Director of the University of London's Institute in Paris.

Ruth Neray, who generously shared her experiences in occupied France and in the Nazi concentration camps

Pascal Bruckner, teacher, polemicist and author of Le Sanglot de l'Homme blanc (The Tears of the White Man).

Christine Corgier, guide to the Notre Dame de Reims Cathedral.

The staff at the Historial de la Grande Guerre in Peronne, in particular Céline Persyn.

André Kirchberger, who told us how his family fared during the German occupation in World War II.

Robert Tombs, Professor at Cambridge, and author, with his wife, Isabelle, of That Sweet Enemy.

Stéphane Noureux, bomb disposal officer who took Gilbert out into the field.

Edgard Pisani, writer, statesman, and philosopher.

Henri Astier, journalist and critic.

Pierre Nora, historian and editor of Les Lieux de Memoire.

Philippe Triboit, film-maker, director of L'Embrasement.

Laurence Ribeaucourt, teacher, social worker, and municipal politician.

Nadir Dendoune, journalist with Le Parisien and author of Letter to the Son of an Immigrant.

Timothy Smith teaches in the History Department of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. His latest book, France in Crisis (La France Injuste), stimulated much debate in France. He is presently writing a general history of France since 1980, for Cambridge University Press.

Claude Ribbe, writer, politician, and activist.

David Chantreux, chief of police, and his generous colleagues in Fontaney sous Bois.

The musicians and film-makers of the Shaolyn Gen-Zu "Violence" group.

Graham Robb, author of The Discovery of France.

Patrick Rotman, film-maker and co-author of A Tale of Two Utopias: The Political Journey of the Generation of 1968.

François de Labarre, writer for Paris Match, and author of L'Incompris, a biography of Nicolas Sarkozy.

Peggy Hollinger, Paris bureau chief of the Financial Times.

Marc Herpoux, screen writer and militant intellectual.

Jacques Rosay, chief test pilot of Airbus.

Pierre Sparaco, aviation journalist.

Joan DeJean of the University of Pennsylvania and author of The Essence of Style: How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafes, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour.

Alicia Drake, author of The Beautiful Fall: Fashion, Genius and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris.

Nicolas Baverez, economist and author of La France Qui Tombe.

Jacques Marseille, Professor at the Sorbonne, columnist, historian, and author of La Guerre des Deux France.

Paris Greeters/Parisien d'un jour [In French and English] If you want to see Paris through the eyes of Parisians and discover little known corners of the French capital, the "greeters" will take you on. The "greeters" are volunteers who love Paris and share their love with others. When we toured Montmartre, my friend Dominique Cotto was President of Paris Greeters. François Pluntz gave me an insight into La Défense; J-M Matayer showed me the secrets of multi-ethnic La Goutte d'Or; Bernard Vernes in Saint Germain des Près; Christian Ragil took me back to my old neighborhood, the Trocadéro.

The Historial de la Grande Guerre [In French and English] is a museum in the small village of Peronne in the area of the Somme, which presents an international perspective on the fighting in the First World War. In the Somme area the main battles involved, on the Allied side, British Empire troops - including Canadians. There are many British Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in the area - and many Canadian graves.

The Battle of Verdun was one of the greatest and most tragic battles on the Western Front in the First World War. Ingrid Ferrand gives tours to the stupendous and tragic battlefield of Verdun in French, English, and German. Ingrid is German and married to a Frenchman. Ingrid Ferrand (tel. 01-33-3-29-87-63-47; e-mail: ingrid.ferrand@wanadoo.fr

 

Music Featured in the Series

I love Paris, performed by Michel LeGrand and his orchestra, from the CD I Love Paris.

J'Aime Les Filles, performed by Jacques Dutronc from his CD Dutronc au Casino.

Attention, by Rouge Rouge from the CD World Groove by Putamayo.

What's New Pussycat, from the CD of the film's soundtrack.

Il n'y a plus d'après, performed by Juliette Greco, from her CD Je Suis Comme Je Suis.

Douce France, performed by Charles Trenet from the CD 100 Plus Belles Chansons Françaises.

Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, 1670, by Jean-Baptiste Lully, performed by L'Orchestre Du Roi Soleil.

Adagio and Fugue, by Mozart, performed by Yo Yo Ma, from the CD Schubert: Quartet N 15/ Mozart: Adagio & Fugue.

French Can Can, performed by Roland Audefroy from the CD Formidable: la Musique du Moulin Rouge.

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, conducted by Michel LeGrand from the CD The Essential Michel Legrand Film Music Collection.

Sur Les Quais de Vieux Paris, performed by Lucienne Delyle (1939) from the CD Le Petit Dictionnaire de Chansons Françaises en 100 Titres.

Comptine D'Une Autre Été: L'Après Midi, from the soundtrack to the film, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain.

Gloria, by Orlandus Lassus, performed by The Cardinall's Musick on the CD Lassus: Missa Surge Propera.

Ça Ira, performed by Edith Piaf on the CD Edith Piaf: Trentieme Anniversaire.

Marche Victorieuse, performed by Le Choeur de l'Armée Française et L'Orchestre de la Garde Republicaine, conducted by Roger Boutry, from the CD Révolution Française.

J'Attendrai, performed by Rina Ketty from the CD 100 Plus Belles Chansons Françaises.

Le Chant des Partisans, performed by Yves Montand from his CD, Les Plus Belles Chansons, Vol. 2.

Il est Cinq Heures; Paris S'Éveille, performed by Jacques Dutronc from the CD Dutronc au Casino.

La Marseillaise, performed by Mireille Mathieu with Le Choeur de l'Armée Française et L'Orchestre de la Garde Republicaine, conducted by Roger Boutry, from the CD Révolution Française.

Parisien du Nord performed by Cheb Mami, from the CD World Groove, by Putamayo.

La Marseillaise (reggae version), performed by Serge Gainsbourg from his CD Gainsbourg: Aux Armes Et Caetera, Volume 8.

Ma Couleur and Microphone Check, performed by Shaolyn Gen-Zu (from their CD Sauvage, Microphone Check; La Violence Collective).

L'Amour de Moi, performed by Jane Birkin from her CD Arabesque.

Je Partirai, performed by Gilbert Becaud, from the CD Gilbert Becaud.

Belleville, performed by New Quintet Du Hot Club de France.