Opening of the "Grand Tour"
Attractivité par la culture

As an initiative aiming at highlighting the attractiveness of France through culture, the Grand Tour was opened on January 15^th by Laurent Fabius

A cultural Tour de France

"Culture is a means to shake mindsets, to question people. If you don't have this field anymore, then you have nothing..." A star was needed to sponsor the event in order to properly start an event aiming at valuing the cultural attractiveness of France: it was Isabelle Huppert, a frontwoman of the art world, who was selected.

Under her sponsoring, Laurent Fabius, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development, officially announced the start of the Grand Tour: during the next months, 42 French cultural events that received this label will benefit from an improved visibility. Other major events organised by the MAEDI are designed to support the programme of the Grand Tour, which will be broadcasted on the network of embassies and cultural services abroad.

Among them is Campus France: with the Campus Monde en Musiques initiative, during the World Music Day. Foreign students will be invited to actively participate in the event by playing their instrument on exclusive scenes. On the francealumni website, you will find all necessary info on the events of the Grand Tour and Campus Monde en Musiques project.

Diversity and attractiveness

Festival of Angoulême, Cannes or Vieilles Charrues, but also the Cité du vin in Bordeaux or celebrations of the battle of Verdun... these events, held all over France, show an impressive diversity. They make what Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, the ambassador in charge of the cultural attractiveness of France, qualifies as a "national treasure". The value of this heritage is universally acknowledged: with 85 million visitors, France is the first tourist destination in the world.

Lights in the Night

The Grand Tour must also favour a reflexion on culture as an economic asset and a lever of development for territories. The challenges will be at the heart of the forum "France, Made in Culture", held on March 9^th. The event will gather experts of cultural attractiveness, local leaders and economic players in order to make offers in order to develop French soft power.

In the meantime, let the party begin! The Grand Tour will first stop at the Quai d'Orsay for the first Nuit des idées (Evening of Ideas), on January 27^th, for which major intellectual figures of France or elsewhere will gather. In the tradition of the Lumières philosophy (Enlightenment), dozens of philosophers, sociologists, researchers and writers will ponder on the challenges we will have to face tomorrow.

Photo credit: Bruno Chapiron / Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development