Word: malraux
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French builders have traditionally been plagued by lagging technology, rigid construction codes and indifferent workers. Now even their ancestors seem to be conspiring against them. Almost everywhere the builders excavate for foundations, it seems, they uncover new and exciting archaeological ruins that Minister of Culture André Malraux deems more important than any immediate construction...
...Nice, Malraux ordered that work on a new luxury apartment building be delayed to give archaeologists a chance to probe the remnants of a prehistoric village unearthed on the site. Last year he halted construction of an important urban-renewal project in downtown Marseille and unleashed the archaeologists when power shovels uncovered massive fortifications built by Greeks during the 6th century B.C. Malraux has now struck again, using his influence to prevent the Rhône River town of Vienne from building a secondary school over what may well be the most important Roman ruins ever discovered in France...
...Vienne was acquired for the badly needed school, Archaeologists Serge Tourrenc and Marcel Le Glay quietly began to probe beneath a peach orchard, suspecting that it covered ancient ruins of Roman Vienne. Three feet beneath the surface, on their first try, they found a colorful Roman mosaic. They alerted Malraux, then, with his support, proceeded to excavate five acres of the orchard with almost unseemly haste, hoping to prove the historical value of the site before the townspeople of Vienne could realize that their new school was in danger...
Battering Ram. Having beautified old Bargème, la Patronne became worried about property development around it. To prevent real estate sharks from cashing in on the town's new attractiveness, she persuaded André Malraux's Culture Ministry in Paris to classify the town as a historical site, thus forbidding new structures on lots of less than 2½ acres. The decree hit Bargème like a battering ram: many villagers, it turned out, had hoped to parcel off their own land at premium prices to wealthy Parisian weekenders. Led by fighting-mad Mayor Isnard...
...give a hoot about any culture minister," said Isnard. "We are masters in our own village." He told Madame De Maria that her "presence in Bargème has been a catastrophe for this village." Last week he issued a decree of his own: if Malraux's decision is not reversed, "we will make Bargeme as ugly a village as we know how." As a start, he threatened to paint every building in the village red, blue and green...