(3 of 8)
Then De Gaulle guided his guest to a waiting Citroën for the ten-mile motorcade to the Kennedys' residence in Paris, the Palais des Affaires Etrangeres on the Quai d'Orsay. In deference to onetime (1950) Sorbonne Student Jackie, who followed in a car with Madame de Gaulle, the route included the famed Boul' Mich'—cobblestoned main drag of the university district—before crossing the Seine into downtown Paris.
De Gaulle—and Paris—had arranged a hero's welcome. There were two dazzling escorts: first, 50 epauleted motorcycle police, then the plumed, sword-bearing cavalry of the Garde Républicaine. Gay banners of red, white and blue bedecked the streets; kiosks were dotted with magazine pictures of the visitors. The huge crowd—including some Latin Quarter students who hoisted a Harvard banner and others who roared out a football-chant countdown of "Kenne-un, Kenne-deux, Kenne-trois . . . Kenne-dix!"—warmly greeted Jack and Jacqueline Kennedy. After the trip. De Gaulle proudly told Kennedy: "You had more than a million out"—although reporters guessed that 500,000 was a safer head count.
After settling briefly into "The King's Chamber"—a Louis XVI bedroom paneled in blue-grey silk—Kennedy drove to the Elysee Palace for the first of his formal talks with De Gaulle. France's President walked stiffly outside to greet his visitor. He paused impatiently for photographers, then guided Kennedy toward his second-floor office for the work at hand. The two men settled down in armchairs behind windows overlooking a superbly manicured lawn; between the chairs was a glass table, holding French and American cigarettes. (De Gaulle neither smokes nor likes others to indulge in his office; Kennedy, who brought his own cigars to Paris, abstained.)
"Tenir le Coup." Carefully starting out on charted ground, De Gaulle and Kennedy devoted their first, 35-minute talk to Berlin. De Gaulle, who has long feared that the U.S. might be willing to negotiate away the future of that city, did most of the talking, urged Kennedy to hold firm ("tenir le coup"). The President, in turn, assured De Gaulle that firmness "is also our wish, our desire." Without exploring specific strategy, the two agreed that there would be no Western surrender to Russian demands for a change in Berlin's status. Kennedy agreed to closer consultation among Britain, France and the U.S. in shaping strategy for Berlin. That initial encounter went well; so far, Kennedy whispered to an aide later, he and De Gaulle were in "perfect agreement."
On that note, the leaders adjourned for a small ceremonial lunch—langouste, pate de foie gras, noix de veau Orloff and three French wines. Jackie sat at De Gaulle's right, charmed him with her careful, schoolbook French. When he rose to toast his visitors, De Gaulle again spoke in austere tones, but veteran observers of his methods noted a rare, genuine warmth as he told the Kennedys: "You saw this morning how happy Paris was to see you. I do not need to add anything to this."