Evening star., 1954-11-20
By Betty BeoIe

1AAA SnOA cOA ASAAAAAAAAAO
woman with a lovely soft voice
and a very pretty face stood
up under the Washington
interview treatment yester-
day from members of her own
sex. With sweet and smiling
composure, Nine. Mendes-
France, wife of the Premier of
France, readily answered such
corkers as:
Could your husband have
saved EDO? Will he get
the French to drink less wine?
-. :. Is the French women more
fascinating over 40? Why
don't the French women
organize into associations? :.
Is the Premier going to put a
woman in his cabinet?
Do you have a favorite French
designer? AS an artist
yourself, what do you think OF
President Eisenhower's paint
ings? Do you think a
United Nations of women
would move faster than men?
One OF the interviewers saved
her the trouble of answering
this one. Columnist Doris
Fleeson popped up from the
rear. How could they move
slower?" The lady from France
grinned.
The chic Lily Mendes-
France. who knows America
well, having spent four years
in New York during the war,
answered everything but polit1-
cal questions. And when she
refused politely on that score.
she was Immediately asked
didn't she think women ought
to know about the politics OF
their country?
If it sounds like rough going,
it wasn't. There wasn't a
woman in the sizable female
press contingent in the draw
ing room of the French EN-
bassy but thought the brunette
Egyptian-born visitor delight
full. sincere and charming.
Besides. when Mime. Bonnet
stages a press conference,
everybody enjoys herself from
the beginning. Especially when
it ends with a divine New
burg, avocado salad and CO.
intreau-flavored whipped
cream pastry, all of it washed
down with French champagne.
To the above questions Nine.
Mendes-France replied:
Her husband could not have
saved EDO. Nobody could.
Yes, her husband will sue
ceed in getting the French to
drink less wine because. When
he starts anything he is al
ways sure he will be able to
do it." French women WILL
help him because more good
men have been lost through
alcoholism. Also the govern
ment is going to stop buying
excess alcohol, and the beet
root that was going into wine
will go into sugar that will be
given free to poor families. In
their own home they never
serve wine. The Premier likes
milk so well there was even a
glass for him at Secretary
Dulles white tie dinner Thurs
day evening. Children In the
schools throughout the coun-
try are going to get milk, too.
Over 40 Fascinating
Was the French woman
more fascinating over 40?
Nine. Mendes-France smiled.
She, herself, is over 40, though
she doesn't look it. An older
woman has more experience
and knowledge so she has more
to offer that way, she said.
When a woman in France de-
cides she is beautiful, people
finally believe it.
Nine. Mendes- France de-
plores the fact that French
women are not organized into
associations. They could do so
much for education. for the
way Of living, for peace. for
human relationships, for for
eign relations. They have a
lot Of good sense" But the
French woman doesn't have
the opportunity the American
woman has to organize-she
hasn't the labor saving house,
keeping aids and she has her
husband home to lunch every
day.
She is sure her husband will
put a woman in the cabinet.
"He IS a feminist she said,
He brought women for the
first time into municipal jobs
when he was mayor Of Louylers
Ins,o l,afara tha MGR