December 1985
Summary : The show / What we see in Santiago / Valparaiso / The Andes Cordillera
The show :
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Program of the show
Live stage show : “Folies de Paris”, one ballet and 4 acts. Some fast arrangements have been done : a wall has been broken to enlarge a doorway to allow the passage of the girl dancers with their high feathered hats.
Huge success for the show. The audience makes it a daily triumph.
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François Colin and Omar Pasha in the program
What we see in Santiago :
Not many changes in town, in the last 2 years since we came here for a TV show. The curfew starts shortly after the end of the show and we have to hurry up to get back to the hotel which is next to the state presidency building, on the Moneda Square. That square is closed and guarded by the police of the military government from Pinochet. The taxi drivers are often frightened to open the fences and we walk to reach the hotel.
The subway is already closed and the stations are guarded by the army, often with water cannons.
On the 13th of every month, there are demonstrations downtown against the government. From the hotel’s terraced roof, we see the protesters pursued by the police using water cannons.
Valparaiso :
Visit to Valparaiso : the recent earthquake has left many marks. The harbour and its hills are always there, with the tiny houses on the hill sides and the funiculars. We dream from the legendary port of call used by the old time’s vessels.
The Andes Cordillera :
Other excursion to the Andes Cordillera which overlooks Santiago : fantastic landscapes remembering the heroes of the French airmail service. We arrive at the famous Portillo ski station, but it is summer, and everything is closed. We reach the Argentinean border before we realize it.
We do a U-turn and we stop in the middle of nowhere at the only open restaurant. Surprise : we meet a French diplomat and his family, arriving from Buenos Aires. We share the same table.