by contributor Dimitrios Machairidis
Photo credit: Dimitrios Machairidis
What if the First Lady was French? We are already in the Age of Aquarius and astrologers predict hundreds of tremendous changes in the world. The shift of focus from the First Lady at the White House to the First Lady at the Elysée Palace in Paris had not been predicted by any astrologer. Nevertheless, accompanying her husband, the new French President Emmanuel Macron, to his official visits in other countries, Brigitte Macron attracts the cameras of paparazzi and steals the international media attention from the US First Lady.
Brigitte Macron, First Lady of France
During the visit of the presidential couple of France to Athens, Greece on the 7th and 8th of September, the cameras were focused on her, trying to capture her slim, elegant figure. Mrs. Macron attended her husband’s official speech at the hill of Pnyka, the site of the ancient Athenian democratic assembly opposite the Acropolis and presented herself at the Presidential Palace of the Hellenic Republic, where she met the French residents of Greece at the French School of Athens.
The French School of Athens is the oldest foreign cultural institution in Greece and the first French cultural institution established out of France. Founded in 1846, it is situated in the elegant neighborhood of Kolonaki, in central Athens. Its premises include the French Archaeological School, responsible for the excavations in Delos, Delphi, Philippi and other archeological sites in Greece, the French Institute, one of the most vibrant cultural organizations in Athens, the library containing 80.000 books, 35.000 maps and 550.000 photos, the auditorium where every year the Festival du Film Francophone takes place and the French Elementary School building, landmark of the long-time historic French-Greek relations and listed among the architectural heritage buildings of Athens.
President Macron
At the beautiful garden of the French School of Athens le Président de la France Emmanuel Macron et sa femme Brigitte Macron honored the French citizens living in Greece with a reception that immediately became the talk of the town in Athens.
The gates of the School opened at 9.30am for the guests and closed at 11am. Arriving at the French School, Emmanuel Macron, followed by the Director of the School Alexandre Farnoux, first watched a digital presentation at the French Archaeological School on the recent findings of the archeological research in Delos (the tiny island next to Mykonos, sacred place for the ancient Greek world). Macron’s message was clear: For the new French President who tries to hold the rising ultra right populism in the European Union in check, culture matters the most.
Through his speech at the reception that followed, Emmanuel Macron emphasized the importance of the necessary structural reforms in France and the European Union in order to stimulate the European economy and to advance the integration of the European Union.
La Marseillaise, the French anthem that followed his speech, signaled the end of the official part of the reception. Then Emmanuel Macron approached the guests and Brigitte Macron made her appearance.
Being extremely polite, they tried to satisfy as many requests for selfies with the guests as the protocol and the security restrictions permitted. Instead of champagne glasses everybody was holding a cell phone trying to get a picture of Brigitte or Emmanuel Macron. A frenetic situation, which showed the need for European leaders who will bring new ideas and take the continent out of its existing stagnation.
Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron seem to fulfill a gap that Europe never considered as such. They represent the powerful presidential couple in Europe. Unlike Americans, the Europeans are not familiar with such a model. The royal couples, a traditional European stereotype, always present themselves according to the strict rules of the royal protocol. As blue bloods, they are obliged to keep their distance from the commoners. On the other hand the wives and husbands of the presidents and prime ministers of the European countries choose to stay away from the front line of the media and the cameras. We have rarely seen the husband of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. We have no idea who the wife of the Greek President is. The public opinion in Europe pays no attention to whatever takes place in the bedroom of the kings, presidents and prime ministers of their countries. The official appearance of the prime minister of Luxembourg with his husband became already a déjà vu.
On the contrary, in Europe everybody knows the details about the First Ladies of the White House. This is the result of the US presidential protocol that determines a specific framework of actions that the First Lady has to accomplish. Every American First Lady has to act as a front page public figure. As a result, their public appearances are widely covered by the European media. Europeans were impressed by Michelle Obama, not only as the wife of the bright Barak Obama but also as a style icon projecting her own fashion and ideas. Trying to copy the Obamas’ sparkling family model, Europe is now discovering the simple and chic image of the French presidential couple.
