The “Croisière Jaune” Presentation at La Ferté-Vidame

At the 100 Years of Citroën anniversary celebration in La Ferté-Vidame, France, there was a presentation of the “Croisière Jaune”, the motoring raid from April 4, 1931, to February 12, 1932 organized by André Citroen, and linking Beirut to Beijing. It was the third motorized expedition of its kind, the first being the crossing of the Sahara and the second, the black cruise.

Shown at La Ferté-Vidame was a multimedia production along with many objects from the expedition in a booth sponsored by the Association des Amis de Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. The Multimedia presentation is now available on YouTube and can viewed here:

• Part 1: La Croisière Jaune, a “human phenomenon” (22 min) – Excerpts from films and period images, presented by Caroline Haardt de La Baume and Ariane Audouin-Dubreuil.
• Part 2: The yellow cruises of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (12 min) – Extracts of films and images presented by Marie Bayon de La Tour, grand-niece of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

Along with the videos above, You can watch 2 other videos about the event at La Ferté-Vidame:

• A video showing meetings on the stand – including a trip in a kégresse! (12 min).
• The official film of the FFVE (French Federation of Vintage Vehicles) (9:20) – The “kégresse” used by Georges-Maris HAARDT in the Pamir Group is visible at 4:10.
   

Some background information:
 
The priest on the expedition, Jesuit, scientist and researcher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), spent more than 20 years in China. In addition to a great diversity in his research in geology and paleontology, being distanced from his homeland also gave him a freedom of reflection, in which he was able to develop his vision of evolution and the future of mankind.
 
From 1923 to 1939, Pierre Teilhard travelled through Asia, participated in the discovery of Sinanthropus Pekinensis (Beijing Man, about 750.000 years old), created studies of the continent’s geology during his participation in the “Croisière Jaune” by Citroën, and continued his research for the human origins. The Second World War limited him to the Asian continent where he stayed until 1946. Among other things, he wrote the “Human Phenomenon”, a synthesis of his thinking.
 
There is a website devoted to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. It is: www.teilhard.fr