Adieu to the France

She had been launched in an era of Gallic grandeur. From the moment that the France first slipped into the Loire estuary at St. Nazaire 14 years ago while French President Charles de Gaulle looked on, this ultimate luxury liner sailed the oceans as a glittering symbol of French elegance. A magnificent example of marine engineering, she was the longest (1,035 ft.) and one of the fastest (30 knots) passenger liners afloat. The service was superb (the ratio of passengers to crew was less than 2 to 1) and so was the food. The France's gourmet dining rooms, particularly the gold-walled Chambord, ranked among the best restaurants on land or sea, dispensing caviar, foie gras and champagne as if they were going out of style.

As a matter of fact, they were. Last week the France fell victim to a new era of French economic realism. After negotiations between government authorities and striking crewmen broke down, the French Line announced that it was canceling the liner's four remaining voyages, all of which were fully booked, and was pulling the ship out of service immediately. The decision left only the British Cunard Line and the Italian Line offering regular transatlantic service between Europe and the U.S.

Rebellious Sailors. The liner's fate had been sealed last July, when French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing announced that the government could no longer afford to subsidize the ship. A fourfold increase in oil prices had pushed the liner's estimated deficit to an intolerable rate of $21 million this year. Although the ship was to have been pulled out of service on Oct. 25, the end was hastened when the crew went on strike two weeks ago as the liner approached Le Havre on its regular crossing from New York. Rebellious sailors forced the France's captain, Christian Pettre, to drop anchor in the approach channel to Le Havre, blocking the harbor's entrance to larger oil tankers. The crew then announced that they would occupy the ship until the government guaranteed jobs for the 3,000 or so employees who would be affected by the liner's demise. After a last nostalgic night, the ship's 1,264 passengers were taken ashore on a Norwegian ferry.

The demonstration won strong support from the French Maritime Union, which staged a two-day sympathy strike and brought out thousands of demonstrators who marched along the quais of Le Havre shouting "Giscard at the helm, France is sinking,"--a parody of the President's successful campaign slogan "Giscard at the helm."

At week's end the crew showed no signs of relinquishing control of the liner, boasting that they had enough provisions on board to last until Christmas. They had set up a mini-government complete with premier and ministers in charge of administration, maintenance, security, information, leisure, domestic life and social and medical problems. They were also publishing a daily newspaper and had even devised a special postmark for their mail. Apparently they were working even harder than usual to keep the France in tiptop shape. But they rejected a call by Premier Jacques Chirac to end the strike and resume talks. "We've heard all that before," said a spokesman for the crew. "We'll stay where we are until the government turns serious."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.