Giscard’s Love Letters

Giscard’s Love Letters

Why did the French army intervene at the time and allow the ouster of the Central African “emperor” Bokassa, who now has a death sentence hanging over him?

Bokassa himself had a surprising answer, received in light of attitudes toward his grotesque personality. “Giscard lusted after my wife, Queen Catherine,” the deposed emperor claimed. “He overthrew me because he wanted her for himself alone, while she contributed to the betrayal.”

Recently, when it emerged that the adventurous writer Roger Delpey had been held for months without trial, by order of the State Security Court, solely because he was about to write a book about Giscard’s ties with Bokassa, and that for this purpose the deposed dictator had given him dozens of authentic letters attesting to those ties, strong rumors spread among well-informed circles in Paris that these letters also included love letters from the president to the dark-skinned Queen Catherine, who, incidentally, is now staying in Paris.

Stories, more or less well-founded, about the French president’s sexual adventures are nothing new, and a few years ago they were more widespread. We once told readers one of them, claiming that Bokassa’s diamonds had been given by the president to a certain dark-skinned actress.

So one can say anything about Giscard, but at least he is not racist at all—and that is no small virtue in today’s Europe.

★

The “Baguette” War Continues

The great bread war in France continues. The act of the merchant Rodriguez of Perpignan, who cut the price of a “baguette” loaf from seventy-two francs to just one franc, has already gone down in history. But attempts by other daring colleagues in the trade to continue Mr. Rodriguez’s enterprise met with violent efforts to thwart them, owing to the anger of most bakers.

And so a quarrel developed between one shopkeeper and a competitor who had come to spy on her prices, and soon turned into a cake fight in the style of old-time movies. The combatants threw cream cakes at one another—but they did not touch bread, the real culprit.

In another, less funny case, an unknown person fired a rifle bullet at the shop of a “price-cutter,” while the victim hurried to the shop of a rival he suspected of the deed and beat him until he was covered in blood.

Bread is serious business, especially when prices are involved.

★

Ten Years of “PIP”

“PIP”—Paris’s local broadcasting station, the information station—is one of the delightful surprises one can hear on French radios.

It is a station established solely to broadcast music and information about what is happening on the roads. It is intended almost exclusively for drivers, but also for anyone who simply dislikes chatter on the air.

The music is extraordinary, and the announcer has a soft, soothing voice even when she cheerfully announces, with genuine youthful exuberance, a huge pile-up blocking the northern approaches to the city, or other disasters. And she does not forget to add all kinds of sweet wishes and terribly lovely sayings about life in the background. So why are we surprised that we are in love with “PIP”? It is like Paris, like the French spirit—“C’est la vie.”

These days the station celebrated its tenth anniversary, and on that day its operators allowed themselves a continuous bout of chatter devoted to the station’s history and its way of working.

★

Marriage, French Style

The number of marriages in France is falling, sociologists say. Although the population is growing steadily, the number of marriages in France fell from 416,000 in 1972 to 310,000 in 1979. Meanwhile, the divorce rate doubled. Between 1966 and 1968 alone, this rate grew by seven percent to 22. Seventeen percent get divorced, [illegible], if they married before the age of 21; only seven percent—if they married after the age of 30. In general, marriages of couples who married before the age of 20 last an average of ten years.

These figures did not deter 15-year-old Richard and 14-year-old Véronique, from the town of Marignane, from becoming France’s youngest married couple in recent days. Permission was granted at the request of both families, because the bride is already far along in her pregnancy.

The average age of marriage in France is 25, and this is the place to mention that the lowest average in this field was recorded in India: men marry there at the age of 20, and women at 14 and a half. The highest average belongs to the Irish: 31 for men and 26 for women.

The Prize

It pays to win France’s “Young Kitchen Champions” competition. The latest winner was told that he would spend his military service as a cook at the palace of the president of France.

★

The Secret of Staying Together: Mobility

[illegible] Jean-Paul Belmondo and the beautiful Italian actress Laura Antonelli are celebrating these days the tenth anniversary of their first meeting, at a small party at “Maxim’s,” with the two looking very [illegible].

Their secret for staying together is very simple: she lives in Rome and he in Paris; and when they feel like seeing one another (which happens very often), they come over—and that is that. Laura is about to move to the United States, but the increased distance does not worry the most mobile couple in today’s cinema.

Brigitte’s Nude Photograph—Hung Up Again

“Give me back the key,” composer Serge Gainsbourg told actress Jane Birkin—and the breakup of one of France’s most famous couples became a fact. “Give Me Back the Key” is also the name of a new film in which Birkin is appearing these days.

Jane lives with her two daughters, Kate and Charlotte, in the home of the French chemist Jacques Doillon, in the upscale 16th arrondissement, and is getting used to her divorce. And so that you do not worry too much, she is also making use of a wonderful country villa she once bought in Normandy.

Gainsbourg was left with the keys to the apartment, without the girls—or not quite alone. His new companion is none other than Catherine Deneuve, as dazzling as ever. They acted together in Claude Berri’s “I Love You All.” In the film he is a composer, as in life, and she is a singer who leaves him. In real life, she does not. After the film, Gainsbourg decided to make Catherine a bona fide singer, and they are now working very closely on a first record. Gainsbourg goes home alone, and the only change he has made is that he has allowed himself to hang again above his bed a nude photograph of Brigitte Bardot, which she once gave him and which he had kept hidden throughout all the years of his marriage to Jane Birkin.

“Mercedes” Tempts Again

Mercedes Jellinek was the daughter of Emil Jellinek, who was the Austrian consul in Nice in 1899. When he competed there in a race in a car made by his friend Gottlieb Daimler, he named it after his daughter. In 1901, “Mercedes” became the name of Daimler’s new car model, and that was the beginning of a legend.

We could see its current stage at a real celebration in the magnificent showroom of “Mercedes-Benz” on the Champs-Élysées. The celebration was in honor of “the latest sensation,” called the “Courrèges Mercedes 4x4.” This “Mercedes” is as powerful as an armored personnel carrier and suitable even for desert driving, but the famous fashion designer André Courrèges also made it decorative and comfortable, with hiding places and even surprises for children.

So if you want a real “trip”—say, to Cairo—we recommend it, but do not forget at least one girl in white. Preferably more.