Unlike the White House, the French presidential residence, the Elysee Palace, is not routinely open to visitors. It is open to the public on just 2 days a year -- and those days were this weekend. I braved the crowds and showed up 45 minutes before it opened this morning, only to find a huge line. I stood in line for 3:45 before actually entering the building. Perhaps if it were open to visitors a little more often, this wouldn't happen.
The scene wasn't quite like Andrew Jackson's 1829 inauguration, but around the 3:00 mark, the crowd did get a little pushy. I will say, though, that unlike the White House tour, you get to see a lot more of the Elysee Palace. You can walk past the president's cars, see the room where his Council of Ministers (equivalent to our Cabinet) meets, and even go into his office. Unfortunately, M. and Mme. Sarkozy were nowhere in sight, but here is a picture of his office. It looks fairly 18th Century, but there is a big flat-screen TV just outside of camera range.
No comments:
Post a Comment