France: Home with Trumpet & Spurs

His myopic eyes squinting in the glare of Orly lights, President Charles de Gaulle emerged, majestic and tanned, from the jet that had brought him home after his four-week, ten-nation tour of South America. The general bore an odd assortment of presents: an Argentine pony (asked De Gaulle when the presentation was made: "What does it eat?"), a Bolivian trumpet, Chilean spurs, a Colombian gold cigar box encrusted with emeralds (he does not smoke), and a Uruguayan whip appropriately inscribed, "Strike hard against the enemies of France." The return received dutiful top coverage by the state-owned television network, although...

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