De Gaulle

Today's the day ......................... to be a tourist

There are so many photos that I could blip from today of any one of the iconic Paris landmarks that we saw - the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Grand Palace to name but a few. But somehow I liked this one of the unmistakable, lanky silhouette of General de Gaulle on the Champs-Elysees.

The 18ft bronze statue was based on the photograph of the General striding down this very avenue amid ecstatic scenes after the liberation of Paris on August 26, 1944. It was unveiled in November 2000, 30 years after his death. The reason why it took so long for France to honour publically the man who had 'saved the nation' was apparently because De Gaulle himself did not want one.

It was nice to see that he has now taken his rightful place amid the adjacent statuary, opposite the First World War leader Georges Clemenceau and a suitable distance from his frequently exasperated ally, Winston Churchill ....................