Macron, the poet of Paris, pens birthday verse for British schoolgirl, 13

A BRITISH girl who sent a poem about the Eiffel Tower to the French president has received a totally unexpected birthday present – a poem by Emmanuel Macron himself published in English and French.

Mr Macron may be blowing hot and cold over Brexit, but he appears to have sought to win the heart of the poem’s 13-year-old author, identified only as Sophie.

On a family trip to Paris in April, Sophie, then aged 12, wrote the poem – entitled Centre of Attention – after seeing Paris’s most iconic landmark, and sent it to the Élysée Palace. It started with the lines: “She has four beautiful legs, which help her stand proud, She looks over everyone with her head in the clouds.

“She is elegant and tall, wears a pretty lacy skirt, Whilst staring at her in awe, your eyes will not avert.”

Clearly touched, Mr Macron, sent his own verse to Sophie on Wednesday – the day of her 13th birthday. The Élysée Palace confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that Mr Macron had written the poem himself in French.

He tasked the French embassy in London to deliver the poem, which posted versions in French and English alongside Sophie’s original.

Speaking in the name of the Eiffel Tower, Mr Macron’s poetic response reads: “How you flatter me! So few poets these days sing the praises of my Parisian soul, as did Cocteau, Aragon, Cendrars, Trenet and Apollinaire.”

The poem ends with the words: “Well I know a man who’ll read your verse.” “Really? Who?” “The President of France.”