An unprecedented invasion, it began with the shock of a diminutive French president declaring he wanted to make love to us all. Or, at least, that's how it sounded when he launched the Anglo-French entente amicale after years of frosty entente cordiale. In the days of a gloomy Brown government, these Gallic love waves lapped willing UK shores. Then Nicolas Sarkozy sent in the pièce de résistance, the triumphal, arching Amazon who would bring us to our knees: his loved-up, delicious new bride, Carla. We were putty in her elegantly gloved hands, and Sarkozy knew it. As each successive flabby politician or ageing royal kissed her cheek or breathed in her fragrance, the president's, er, stature visibly inflated. But who was the mastermind behind this memorable seduction? Photographs confirm France's own first lady has been calling the killer public-relations shots. An accomplished musician, heiress and former supermodel, she has been busy shaping the mage of this presidency, wooing key French editors and photographers. In 2002, when she needed images for her first album, Quelqu'un m'a dit (Somebody Told Me), she called on the photographer Claude Gassian. The edgy, arty Gassian has been shooting portraits of musicians from Leonard Cohen to Mick Jagger to Madonna since the 1970s. And on last month's state visit to Britain, it was Gassian that Carla called on to record her trip behind the scenes. The pictures reveal the casual ease of the charm and fashion offensive. From trying out clothes before the visit, to dressing at Windsor Castle, Gassian was there to record every moment: subject to Madame's approval, of course. He remains discreet about the visit: "There was no particular brief. We just have a trust that has been built over the years." Anything more to add? Rien.
An unprecedented invasion, it began with the shock of a diminutive French president declaring he wanted to make love to us all. Or, at least, that's how it sounded when he launched the Anglo-French entente amicale after years of frosty entente cordiale. In the days of a gloomy Brown government, these Gallic love waves lapped willing UK shores.
Then Nicolas Sarkozy sent in the pièce de résistance, the triumphal, arching Amazon who would bring us to our knees: his loved-up, delicious new bride, Carla. We were putty in her elegantly gloved hands, and Sarkozy knew it. As each successive flabby politician or ageing royal kissed her cheek or breathed in her fragrance, the president's, er, stature visibly inflated.
But who was the mastermind behind this memorable seduction? Photographs confirm France's own first lady has been calling the killer public-relations shots. An accomplished musician, heiress and former supermodel, she has been busy shaping the mage of this presidency, wooing key French editors and photographers. In 2002, when she needed images for her first album, Quelqu'un m'a dit (Somebody Told Me), she called on the photographer Claude Gassian. The edgy, arty Gassian has been shooting portraits of musicians from Leonard Cohen to Mick Jagger to Madonna since the 1970s. And on last month's state visit to Britain, it was Gassian that Carla called on to record her trip behind the scenes.
The pictures reveal the casual ease of the charm and fashion offensive. From trying out clothes before the visit, to dressing at Windsor Castle, Gassian was there to record every moment: subject to Madame's approval, of course. He remains discreet about the visit: "There was no particular brief. We just have a trust that has been built over the years." Anything more to add? Rien.
And a good week to all others too!
"Hope, St. Augustine wrote, has two beautiful daughters. They are anger and courage. Anger at the way things are and the courage to see they do not remain the way they are. We stand at the verge of a massive economic dislocation, one forcing millions of families from their homes and into severe financial distress, one that threatens to rend the fabric of our society. If we do not become angry, if we do not muster within us the courage to challenge the corporate state that is destroying our nation, we will have squandered our credibility and integrity at the moment we need it most."
Chris Hedges is author of "I Don't Believe in Atheists" and "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America." This column was originally published by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Capitalism searches out the darkest corners of human potential, and mainlines them.
