French Country Travel Life Abandoned Palace

French Country Travel Life Abandoned Palace. Yes, there is such an animal. It is located in the capital of this fair land. And it has been abandoned, not only by it’s present occupant, but by many of the former as well. However, would never be abandoned by DA BG.( Should I be called upon.)

Traditionally, the Elyseé Palace is the “Home” of the French President. The “White House” of froggie land.

But just as traditionally, a majority of French Prezzies, both present and past, have chosen to hang their hats elsewhere. For a variety of reasons.

My fellow scribbler “Shartka” leads us further down the road of  Presidental Palace Abandonment:

“The choice of François Hollande to stay in his modest 50m2 apartment in the 15^th rather than enjoy the sumptuous luxury of the presidential Elysée Palace may seem like the maladroit political symbolism of a freshly elected greenhorn, but few presidents have actually lived in the palace.

Georges Pompidou rarely slept in the second-floor private apartments of the palace, as was the case for subsequent presidents Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, François Mitterrand and Nicolas Sarkozy. In addition, going back to De Gaulle, the idea of moving the presidential offices has continually resurfaced, most recently in 2008.

The powerful presidency put in place by the 1958 Constitution necessitated a considerable increase in presidential staffers. De Gaulle, at any given time had around 40 compared with René Coty’s dozen or so. Finding it too small and outdated, De Gaulle did not like the Elysée Palace. He also reportedly did not appreciate the fact that you could not land a helicopter on the premises.

Invalides and the Chateau de Vincennes were both researched as possible future presidential digs, although he finally dropped the idea, faced with serious reluctance from close advisors.

In order to free up space in the palace, he kicked out a number of people living their, turned the Royal suite that welcomed foreign Heads of State into offices and acquired a couple neighboring buildings. For De Gaulle, it was only reluctantly that he lived in the palace, escaping for a weekend in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises as often as possible.

Thus, the Elysée palace has more often than not served as an office rather than a home for France’s presidents.  However, there were exception. Jacques Chirac made a political statement of living in the Elysée saying that when you’re at the helm of the State, you must be there day and night, although Chirac is also known for having made a career out of palatial state-financed housing.”

Read more HERE

THROW ME A BONE HERE, PEOPLE!

What are ya thinkin’?