The government of President Nicolas Sarkozy has told cash-strapped French universities to sell off their castles, vineyards and other prized possessions and invest the money in education.
Valerie Pecresse, the minister for higher education, made the suggestion amid heated negotiations with student unions over plans to reform the university system. One element of the reform is to end state control of how universities spend their money and give them greater freedom to manage their own budgets. According to Le Figaro newspaper, the Universities of Paris, a grouping which includes the Sorbonne, owns a string of properties, such as the 1,180 acre Richelieu estate in the Indre-et-Loire and the villa Finaly in Florence. Those in Dijon, Bordeaux and Paris VI all own vineyards, which are said to produce excellent vintages. Bordeaux university owns two chateaux as well as an 1850 bourgeois villa. Nice has a chateau with a theater on its grounds. |