Hail to the chief
May 15, 2012 18:40:05 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 15, 2012 18:40:05 GMT
Okay, so today the new president of France took office, and one of the rituals is to go up the Champs Elysées from the Elysée palace to lay a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier.
The weather was absolutely miserable -- in fact there was a hail storm at the precise moment that the new president went up the avenue exposed to the elements in his open top Citroën.
The gendarmes had it much worse, because they had been stationed along the Champs Elysées every 50 meters since 8 a.m. and the ceremony was not scheduled until noon.
A huge contingent of the Garde Républicaine preceded and followed the presidential cortege.
The horrible weather did not encourage huge crowds.
After the wreath ceremony, the motorcade came back down the avenue.
The thousands of police and gendarmes who had been there since dawn would soon return to their usual duties.
The side streets would soon reopen.
Anyway, intervals of bad weather continued all day, during the speech at the statue of Jules Ferry (creator of free and obligatory secular education in France) and Marie Curie (woman and exemplary immigrant). There was a reception at the Paris city hall with a new crowd to greet.
Dinner is in Berlin, but President Hollande's trouble was not finished. His plane was struck by lightning shortly after takeoff and it was decided to return to the military airport to change planes for security reasons.
However, now he is in Berlin and only risks indigestion. He has nevertheless taken the precaution of naming a former German teacher as his prime minister.
The weather was absolutely miserable -- in fact there was a hail storm at the precise moment that the new president went up the avenue exposed to the elements in his open top Citroën.
The gendarmes had it much worse, because they had been stationed along the Champs Elysées every 50 meters since 8 a.m. and the ceremony was not scheduled until noon.
A huge contingent of the Garde Républicaine preceded and followed the presidential cortege.
The horrible weather did not encourage huge crowds.
After the wreath ceremony, the motorcade came back down the avenue.
The thousands of police and gendarmes who had been there since dawn would soon return to their usual duties.
The side streets would soon reopen.
Anyway, intervals of bad weather continued all day, during the speech at the statue of Jules Ferry (creator of free and obligatory secular education in France) and Marie Curie (woman and exemplary immigrant). There was a reception at the Paris city hall with a new crowd to greet.
Dinner is in Berlin, but President Hollande's trouble was not finished. His plane was struck by lightning shortly after takeoff and it was decided to return to the military airport to change planes for security reasons.
However, now he is in Berlin and only risks indigestion. He has nevertheless taken the precaution of naming a former German teacher as his prime minister.
). Then I read about the lightning strike. That had to have daunted the poor man!
