GRACE UNDER PRESSURE AT CHIRAC'S TABLE

PARIS January 12, 2006 (Telegraph) - As a formal lunch drew to a close in the Elysée Palace, President Jacques Chirac reportedly raised his eyebrows when his wife, Bernadette, a devout Roman Catholic, asked a leading bishop among the guests to say a prayer. Mgr Jean-Michel di Falco, the Bishop of Gap and a senior figure in the French Catholic church, responded to Mrs Chirac's request by telling guests he would say grace. The faces of both Mr Chirac and his daughter Claude, a key adviser, dropped as the bishop offered thanks "to our Lord for this meal". He then closed the prayer by calling on "the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost". The events at the lunch were reported in the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchainé. It said that while Mrs Chirac was visibly "with the angels", her husband refused to follow the bishop in crossing himself and wore a frown that betrayed his "disapproval of her mystical initiative".

Last month, France celebrated 100 years of the separation of church and state.

Jack later explained:

Religion she is all fine and nice in her place. [French pause.] She is like the frottage. Something to be enjoyed once in a while, as inconspicuously as possible -- Mon Dieu ! -- certainly not at a big fancy déjeuner while a spouse is present buttering his bun. Unless, of course, accomplished under the table without rattling the stemware. In France the recreational frotteur, he requires a discretion.

So too the mumbo-jumbo of the devout.

Settling back in his seat, Jack stared a moment at his trembling imitation hand-blown Reidel, then joked:

Bien sûr, if Mon Seigneur he is paying l'addition, well, I say a nice big thank you. [French pause.] That is only the good manners.

PFFT (What is this?): No thanks 3 | Rayonnement français 0