IN THE NUDE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 590, 22 July 1933, Page 11

IN THE NUDE

BACK TO NATURE NUDIST COLONY NEAR PARIS SUBJECT OF LEGAL BATTLE. , "WAY TO HEALTH." I For 3000 men and women in Paris, April 8 was the greatest day of the. year. It will go down in the history of France as the day on which the "Back to Nature" battle waged for six years ended (says the . Sunday j Chronicle). These fresh air enthusiasts, including British families, have at last obtained official approval by the French Ministry of War of their colony at Villennes sur Seine. 'Under the leaflership of two doetor brothers, Gaston and Andre Durville, they are determined to teach France their "way to health." Here, at the very gates of Paris, the fashion centre of the world, they set out to show that clothes arei far from making the man — or even the woman. Then they only numbered 40. Now, on fine weelc-ends, no fewer than 6000, including invited guests, have been known to occupy-this 125acre modern Garden of Eden. The fame of the island colony has gone so far abroad that it has become cosmopolitan, as its name, Physiopolis, signifies. Men and women from all parts of Europe come here to this island. Among the members are sorne thirty Eniglish families, who arnve regularly every year with their children. Many of them make the journey across the Channel expressly for this

purpose. This b ack-to-N atur e island, on which the occupants are hidden from prying idle eyes, forms one of a series of small islands on a large hend of the Seine, and lies opposite the village of Villennes. Until the Durvilles, the doetors, came along it was almost uninhabited. At first their object had been to form a completely nudist colony. To th'is the policei definitely objected and threatened to combat them. A compromise was reached by making it a rule that just sufficient should be worn to satisfy convention. Eventually the authorities accepted the colony, with its strict rules and regulations, as a physical training camp. Ministers inspected the camp and the tide of disapproval began to ebb. Many of the colonists are eminent professional men, such as actors, lawyers, doetors, and authors. Some of the wealthiest industrialists in the country, their wives and children, are not embarrassed to go to the Physiopolis for week-ends or even for complete holidays. I The Villennes nudist colony has de. veloped into a large health centre, to which more and more English' people go.