Chirac gets full military honors as France bids him farewell
France bid a final adieu to Jacques Chirac on Monday as the former French president received military honors on a national day of mourning that culminated with a memorial service attended by dozens of past and current world leaders.
Cutting a solemn figure, French President Emmanuel Macron presided over the military ceremony on a mild, sunny morning near the site of Napoleon’s tomb in the courtyard of Les Invalides. A military band played the national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” before Macron inspected the troops. Chirac’s casket, covered with a Tricolor flag, was then carried to the center of the cobbled courtyard.
Macron, who did not speak, later attended the final service at the Church of Saint-Sulpice in downtown Paris alongside family members, French politicians and foreign officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, former US President Bill Clinton, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
Chirac’s coffin was driven to SaintSulpice, where pianist Daniel Barenboim played a Schubert impromptu, as mourners lined the procession route to his funeral service. When the hearse carrying Chirac drove by, the crowd broke into applause. Standing outside of the Invalides, Nathalie Kabongo, whose husband worked on Chirac’s 1995 and 2002 campaigns, said Chirac reminded her of “a politics closer to the people.”
“Apart from being president, he was a man ... a warm man, a man close to people, smiling and with a heart,” she said. “We need that sometimes.”
Those assembled took pictures, shed tears and held signs reading “Thank you for saying no to the war in Iraq” as they watched the flagdraped coffin onscreen.
Max Mignard, who came to pay his respects, described Chirac as the “kindest man in politics.”
A private family church service for Chirac was celebrated prior to the military tribute and a private burial took place later at the Montparnasse cemetery. A minute of silence was held in schools and public buildings across the country on France’s national day of mourning for its former leader.