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Show "A ,!S ,? f y i in! i v"iriL v VU ; - j Estfier Yanito (second from left) watches as Leonor Fry of France tries her hand at making Navajo Fry Bread. (Alvin Reiner Photo) french Travel Agents Visited Four Corners By Alvin Reiner A group of fourteen French travel agents recently made an eight day tour through the Four Corners Region. The agents are headed by Leonor Fry of the U.S. Travel Service in Paris who arranged the trip with Mary Williams of Tag-A-Long Tours of Moab. The tour which commenced ' in Durango almost didn't become a reality as there's : presently a T.W.A. strike, but they managed to catch the last I plane from Paris. Due to the ! labor problems they had some ' doubt as to whether or not they 'i could depart as scheduled I from Grand Junction, at the conclusion of their western journey. The agents' first stop was the narrow gauge railway at Silverton, Colo., and thus they were initiated to the majestic rockies. Mesa Verde National Park was the next attraction on their itinerary, followed by a visit to the Four Corners Monument during which time they photographed one another anoth-er stretched across four states. One of the highlights of their excursion was sure to be the Bluff, Utah area where they were treated to a Navajo taco dinner and traditional Indian dancing at Recapture Pocket. By the light of a bonfire, shimmering stone sentinels stretched into the starry sky as the Navajo youths under the direction of June Blackhorse presented their repertoire of songs and dances. dan-ces. The French travellers then presented a number of musical selections from their homeland. Gene Foushee of the Recapture Lodge in Bluff arranged the festivities while Esther Yanito was responsible for the delicious dinner. Besides the aforementioned activities, the intinerary included in-cluded a guided tour through Monument Valley; a jeep safari into Canyonlands National Na-tional Park; a float trip to witness Canyonlands by night near Moab; and a visitation to Arches National Park. According to Mary Williams and Leonor Fry, the purpose of the tour was to expose the travel agents to what the French tourist might want to see in the "Wild West." "It was almost impossible to explain," commented Ms. Williams, "so we had to take the agents to see for themselves.'" them-selves.'" Most of the agents were amazed at the large uninhabited areas and vast-ness vast-ness of the west which they felt was "a big change from Europe." They had a preconceived precon-ceived misconception of the Navajo Reservation which they thought would be a small park. In the French vernacular, the equivalent of "reservation" has a derogatory connotation. The travel agents on this "Best of the West" tour were overwhelmend by the hospitality hospi-tality of the Navajos and Anglos, which they had expected to be of a rougher nature due to the stories they had heard of the "Wild West." |