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In the present article, the author attempts to study the problem of the perception of other cultures through various literary and other texts of French travellers in the 19th and 20th centuries. These texts constitute an example of opinion, perception and appreciation for about two centuries of the culture of the other. What do they represent in reality ? From the experience of the difference, the « voyage to the Orient » is qualified in the 20th century as a « jardin de la connaissance » (literally : « garden of knowledge »), but it still remains a difficult bet to realise in terms of an egalitarian exchange with the partner of an other culture. The article also considers, in the context of scientific studies in those years, the consequences of biological determinism (interaction of biology and culture) and the often fallacious use of arguments to justify racial prejudice.