Word: colombey
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...experts devoted years to trying to penetrate his mind on NATO and other issues. For a time during the '60s, many exasperated American laymen simply gave up French wines and trips to Paris. But nearly all of that irritation had vanished before De Gaulle died last week at Colombey-les-Deux- Eglises (see THE WORLD...
...establishment of regional governments (a relatively popular issue) and the downgrading of the Senate (an unpopular one) into a vote of confidence on his presidency. As the returns showed that the trend was running irreversibly against him, De Gaulle sent a two-sentence message to Paris from Colombey: "I am ceasing to exercise my functions as President of the Republic. This decision takes effect at noon today...
...spent Monday, Nov. 9, as he had spent almost every other day since leaving office 18 months before. He took two strolls, one alone and one with his wife Yvonne, around his beloved nine-acre country estate, La Boisserie (the woodland glade), in the tiny farming village of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, 120 miles southeast of Paris. At noon, he ate a robust lunch, topped off by one of his favorite cream pastries and his usual cup of extra-strong coffee. He chatted with a neighboring farmer, René Piot, about fencing an adjoining piece of land that...
Much of his time was devoted to his memoirs. To the few visitors he received at Colombey, De Gaulle said: "I will finish three books, if God grants me life." The Renewal, Volume I of the projected three-volume Memoirs of Hope, appeared six weeks ahead of schedule in October, and immediately became the fastest seller in French publishing history. Last week De Gaulle was working on the third chapter of the second book, which was due to be published late next year. As usual, he dictated to his secretary from notes, frequently staring out the window at La Boisserie...
With glacial calm, Madame de Gaulle asked that news of the General's death be withheld "until I can notify my family." She quickly reached her daughter Elizabeth in Paris, who set out for Colombey with her husband General Alain de Boissieu. Son Philippe, a navy captain stationed in Brest, was more difficult to locate. As a result, Pompidou was not notified until 4 a.m., and it was not until 17½ hours after his mentor's death that he finally went on television. "General de Gaulle is dead," he said. "France is a widow...