This Wednesday, November 3, the President of the Republic and the Federal Chancellor took a walkabout in the streets of Beaune before visiting the Hôtel-Dieu and then heading to the Château du Clos de Vougeot. Watch Angela Merkel’s farewell visit in pictures.
Twenty-eight years after the 1993 summit bringing together François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl, a new page in Franco-German relations has turned to Beaune with the farewell visit of the Federal Chancellor.
This Wednesday, November 3, 2021, Angela Merkel and Joachin Sauer were welcomed by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron. The afternoon rain having stopped shortly before their arrival, the two heads of state were able to take a walkabout. About a thousand people had gathered between Place des Halles and Place Carnot.
“A very strong symbol of Franco-German friendship”
“It is a very strong symbol of Franco-German friendship. Angela Merkel’s last official trip to Beaune is important, and since the president has decided to accompany this special occasion, it is an honor for Beaune ”, explained Alain Suguenot (LR), mayor. from Beaune.
“In reality, Emmanuel Macron, just as much as Angela Merkel were the essential players in the construction of Europe or in the maintenance of the European structure, including in a period which was very hard, that of Brexit in particular”, analyzed Didier Paris ( LREM).
“I find that Emmanuel Macron who decides to thank in a way Angela Merkel for more than twenty years of political activity for the benefit of his country and of Europe, it has an extraordinary meaning to bring her here. Beaune is a city of great tradition, a city of quality lifestyle. A thank you must be festive, pleasant, of quality. There, we have all the ingredients, ”he added. And to underline that “François Patriat weighed a lot in this coming”.
Senator LREM from Côte-d’Or was therefore Place des Halles for the Republican welcome alongside Alain Suguenot and Didier Paris as well as Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs, Fabien Sudry, Prefect of Côte-d’Or, and Myriel Porteous, sub-prefect of Beaune.
Different stages punctuated the stroll around the Beaune market halls with many selfies on the way. Inside the Place des Grands Crus wine merchant, Angela Merkel was able to admire the bottle of a Charmes-Chambertin from 1955, almost its year of birth which is 1954.
As night fell, François Poher, director of the Hospices Civils de Beaune, gave a brief history of the institution upon the arrival of the delegation in the courtyard of the Hôtel-Dieu. The visit continued in the Salle des Pôvres.
The brotherhood of the knights of Tastevin celebrates Burgundy
A second republican welcome, more substantial, took place in the courtyard of the Château du Clos de Vougeot. Were there in particular, Claude Charles, mayor of Vougeot, Senator François Patriat (LREM), Senator Anne-Catherine Loisier (various center), the deputies of the Côte-d’Or Yolaine de Courson (related to Modem), Rémi Delatte ( LR-Libres), Fadila Khattabi (LREM), Didier Martin (LREM) and Dadier Paris (LREM), as well as Marie-Guite Dufay (PS), president of the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, François Sauvadet (LCOP), president of the departmental council of Côte-d’Or, Pascal Grappin (UDI), president of the community of communes of Nuits-Saint-Georges and Gevrey-Chambertin, Ludovic Rochette (various right), president of AMF 21), and Christophe Marot, secretary general of the prefecture of Côte-d’Or.
In the large cellar, other spectators also followed the recital of pianist Alexandre Kantorow such as Anne-Marie Descôtes, Ambassador of France in Germany, and Jean-Philippe Girard, CEO of Eurogerm.
The two heads of state were inducted into the brotherhood of knights of Tastevin which, since its creation in 1934, has celebrated Burgundy, its traditional cuisine, and its wines, as well as Burgundian customs and traditions,
“France has learned to know and love you”
The official part ended with the presentation of the Grand’Croix of the Legion of Honor to the Chancellor. During the ceremony, Emmanuel Macron praised “a whole journey made alongside France and for Europe”. A route whose first official visit to France dates back to July 18, 1990; Angela Merkel was then deputy spokesperson for the Prime Minister of the GDR. The President of the Republic found in the archives a document mentioning his name.
“Since you have been Federal Chancellor, France has learned to know and love you”, punctuates Emmanuel Macron, who is familiar with Angela Merkel. With Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, Angela Merkel fought to preserve the integrity of the euro zone, faced the financial crisis, faced terrorism.
“Together, we had to live through this pandemic, a Europe to move forward on certain subjects and an increasingly uncertain geopolitics”, summed up the President of the Republic, “you have helped to keep Europe united despite all the shocks ”.
Jean-Christophe Tardivon
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