Last Sunday, Red Baron followed the live-streamed inauguration of France's newly elected President, Emmanuel Macron, on Facebook. While watching, I took some screenshots I would like to share with you.
Macron arrived in a relatively small car and was greeted by President François Hollande at the steps of the Élysée Palace while dignitaries were waiting inside a hall.
Hollande and Macron disappeared, apparently to attend a session of the French government that is always presided over by the President of the Republic. This time it was presided over by the old and the new; was this the reason why the meeting took nearly an hour?
In the meantime, the cameras showed some interesting scenes while people were waiting.
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| The guard of honor waiting in the courtyard of the Élysée Palace |
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| La Tricolore is always on top |
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| Dignitaries are waiting inside |
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Two well-known faces. In the middle: Lionel Jospin, socialist prime minister in 1997,
failed in 2002 to become Président de la République. On the right: His eternal rival
Laurent Fabius, socialist, now president of the Constitutional Council. |
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| The two attractive daughters of the president's wife and one of the grandchildren waiting. |
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Soldiers of the Foreign Legion waiting.
In the background, men of the Republican Guard waiting. |
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| Citizens greeting their new neighbors are waiting too. |
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| The waiting dignitaries are entertained by Mozart's music. |
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| Is he coming? |
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| But he disappears again to say goodbye to François Hollande. |
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François bids adieu to Emmanuel's wife, Brigitte,
while the new president is watching the scene. |
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| Both men are descending the stairs. |
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| The car in which Emmanuel arrived is waiting for François at the end of the red carpet. |
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| Is Hollande hesitating to leave the Élysée, or is he eager to go? |
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| Macron watches the parting president entering the car. |
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| A last waving of the hand |
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| The presidential couple united again, smiling at the crowd. |
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| The president of the Constitutional Council gives Macron a lesson about his duties and rights |
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| Laurant Fabius impresses the crowd by speaking without a manuscript or teleprompter. |
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The Grand Chancellor of the Order of the National Legion of Honor
offers Macron the insignia of a Grandmaster |
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| A close-up of the cross of the Legion of Honor |
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| The Grand Chancellor signs the bestowal document first. |
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| The bestowal document of the Legion of Honor |
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| Macron signed the document too |
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In his inaugural speech, la France d'abord (France first)
defending the traditional values de la Républic: liberté, égalité, fraternité ... |
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| ... although Europe is important too |
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| The presidential couple leaves the reception |
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| Brigitte in small talk with some dignitaries ... |
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| ... while her husband is leaving the building to inspect the guards. |
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| Macron on the red carpet face to face with ... |
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| ... the commanding officer |
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| The new president is on his way to inspect the guard of honor. |
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| Saluting the tricolore |
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| Playing la Marseillaise |
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| President Emmanuel Macron listening |
On Monday, President Macron was in Berlin. Traditionally the first foreign trip of a newly elected French president is to Germany, while a freshly elected chancellor visits Paris first. Both leaders agreed to advance the European Union.
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| Angela and Emmanuel are bosom buddies already (©AFP) |
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