This 1965 promotional film produced by Vision Associates for Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) depicts French tourist destinations. A map is shown at the beginning of the film highlighting different regions and provinces of France (0:24). Starting and ending in Paris, the film takes travelers through various destinations, including Normandy, Brittany, the Loire Valley, Bordeaux, the Pyrenees, and Provence. The film begins with a shot of the Eiffel Tower (0:44) and flashes through several famous landmarks such as the Tuileries Garden and Seine River. Various scenes of French wine and bread, wood making, waterskiing, surfing, and beaches are shown. A Pan Am plane is shown flying in the background behind the Pan Am logo (1:40). The Arc de Triomphe is shown at night with red and white lights of cars in the foreground (2:04), and then the Fontaine Saint-Michel (2:11). The camera pans over an aerial view of Paris with the Eiffel Tower, the Cathedrale de Notre-Dame, and Pont Alexandre III visible. A Paris cabaret nightclub, Folies Pigalle, is shown at night (2:29). The Arc de Triomphe, a woman riding a bicycle, and wine being poured flash by, along with a Christian Dior boutique sign (2:35), a streetcar, and the Statue of Liberty on the Île aux Cygnes (2:38), which was given by the U.S. to France in 1889 to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution. Maxim’s restaurant, known for its Art Nouveau décor (2:38). The Sacré-Cœur Basilica of Montmartre is shown (2:55). Scenes of Parisian street life and food markets (3:40). Children float toy sailboats on the Seine (4:00). Cars crowd the Rue de Rivoli as police direct traffic (4:20). Customers eat at Au Pied de Cochon, the first establishment to offer continuous service and to open at night starting in 1947 (4:51). The film transitions out of Paris, showing cars driving past grass fields along the Valley of the Seine (5:50) and the exterior and interior of Chartres Cathedral (5:56). The film’s journey continues west through the small town of Normandy to the Auberge du Vieux Puits, an inn and restaurant (7:11), Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey near the coast, and La Mère Poulard Hotel, which has a famous omelet recipe (8:22). The film continues to the Loire Valley and shows chateaux and paintings of the French Renaissance (9:58), including Azay, Chambord, Chenonceau, and Amboise (11:20). In Brittany, fishermen, cows, farmers, and seagulls are shown (12:04), along with the ancient villages of Brittany, with inns built from Great Britain stones (12:44). Women serve crepes and cider at an inn (12:58). A man weaves at a loom and makes small statues out of wood (13:22). In the wine country of Bordeaux, vineyards, wine tasting, the Maison du Vin, and wine chateaux are shown (15:20). In the Pyrenees and Basque country, mountains, horse riders, and rivers are shown (17:12). St. Jean de Luz, a town near the Spanish border, features a Basque festival (17:50). The castles of Carcassonne, the most famous walled city in France and a UNESCO world heritage site, are shown next (17:57), followed by scenes of the Oustau de Baumanière inn in Provence (19:16) and Roussillon, “the red village” (19:41). Le Pont du Gare, a Roman bridge, is shown (19:56), then Avignon and the Palace of the Popes, which was the seat of the Holy Roman Empire (20:13). Scenes from the play L’illusion Comique by Pierre Corneille are shown (21:00). A music festival in Aix-en-Provence, the birthplace of post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne (21:14). Bouillabaisse, a fish stew, is shown in Marseille (22:00). A Pan Am plane takes off down the runway in Nice-Cote d’Azur while the film shows people on French beaches, including Nice, Cannes, Biarritz, Saint-Tropez, and Deauville (22:18). The film returns to Paris (25:00) and Avenue Victor Hugo. Shots of gargoyles on Notre-Dame, Maxim’s restaurant, and food (26:22). This film was directed by famed documentarian Lee Bobker and produced by Helen Kristt, and photographed by Herbert Raditschnig.

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