It was not a time for flaunting on March 8, 1974. It was even
“
the most rigorous austerity
”
which presided over the official inauguration of the first terminal of Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport to the north of Paris.
“
What a contrast with the
big party at Orly
, thirteen years ago
!
"
, notes
Le Figaro
.
How can we celebrate, in fact, when five days earlier 346 people lost their lives in the crash of the Turkish Airlines DC-10 about twenty kilometers away?
The economic crisis is also weighing on the celebrations.
The first oil shock marked the end of the thirty glorious years, somewhat dampening the general euphoria of the 1960s.
The hope of a “vast zone of prosperity”
It was in 1964 that the decision to build a new airport serving the capital was taken, with Orly already being threatened by congestion.
The location had been carefully chosen: 3,000 hectares of agricultural plain in the Val d'Oise, 25 kilometers from Notre-Dame.
“
The following year,
” recounts
Le Figaro
on March 7, 1974
, “the master plan for the Paris region included a first outline of the development of this agricultural plain destined to become, in twenty years, a vast zone of prosperity which, in concentric waves, would extend from Paris to the south of Picardy and from the borders of the Montmorency valley to those of the new town of Marne-la-Vallée.
A constellation of industrial and commercial zones
;
a strong communications network
;
reasoned and planned urbanization
;
employment, transport and housing, these were the guarantees of this prosperity.
»
On the eve of the inauguration, Le Figaro of March 7, 1974 devoted several pages to the new Roissy airport.
Le Figaro
Ten years later, employment is there.
Transportation much less.
“
As anachronistic as it may seem, the coach will remain until 1976 – the date chosen for the commissioning of the first rail link between Roissy and Paris – the safest way to reach the airport from the capital,”
deplores at the time
Le Figaro.
It will be necessary to wait three months for the completion of a new link (B 3) to escape a regularly saturated northern motorway.
»
As for housing, the account is not there either:
“
One hundred thousand people will live inside the noise zones of the airport.
Some will be compensated, to varying degrees.
But this population could have been less significant if the growth of the twenty-one neighboring municipalities had been more strictly regulated ,
”
the newspaper further notes.
A rushed inauguration
Is this why the inauguration was disrupted by a smoke bomb thrown in the direction of the official procession by a student from Algeria and member of a small far-right group?
A
“
simple little smoke bomb, without danger, not even raising the eyebrows of the Prime Minister, who has seen others
”
, tempers
Le Figaro
.
Prime Minister Pierre Messmer, right, accompanied by the CEO of the Paris airport André Decelle and the Minister of Transport Olivier Guichard, inaugurates terminal 1 of Roissy-Charles de Gaulle on March 8, 1974. POOL / AFP
Pierre Messmer, however, completes
"
the review of the troops and the main installations of the new, largest and most modern airport in Europe
"
in three quarters of an hour.
The speeches are brief.
The President of the Republic, Georges Pompidou, who died less than a month later, is absent but members of his predecessor's family are seated in the first row of guests.
“
By giving this achievement the name of the general, it is first of all a tribute that the French pay to themselves
;
and then “De Gaulle Airport” – the Americans already say “Charlie Airport” – it sounds good, and it is at the same time the symbol of greatness and prosperity ,
”
Admiral Philippe de Gaulle wants to believe.
In the afternoon, guests rush into the labyrinth of corridors and staircases that constitutes Terminal 1 designed by architect Paul Andreu, a
“
disturbing, brilliant and Kafkaesque construction, monstrously beautiful and which will require get used to it to be worthy of it
.
”
In 1961, Orly was a
“
modern-day Versailles Palace
”
, a
“
marvellous antechamber of France
”
.
In 1974, the atmosphere was completely different.
Away from flashiness and gadgets,
“
sobriety and efficiency win by far
”
.