Paris (AFP)
What is the connection between a pressure cooker, a Cherbourg umbrella and pickles? These products are made in France and are displayed under the gold of the Élysée, which opens its doors to 10,000 visitors this weekend to promote "made in France".
From the shower cabin installed under the canopy of the winter garden to the enormous tractor placed on the elegant lawn and the mattress of the village hall, 120 products, traditional or ultra-technological, come to upset the solemn order of presidential palace by invading its lounges, its courtyard and its vast garden.
Unpublished event that reopens the Palace to the public, this "Great Exhibition of Made in France" was inaugurated Friday evening by Emmanuel Macron, before welcoming the curious who have registered.
The objective is to "shed light on the companies that make the effort to produce in the country", while the "made in France" represents only 36% of the consumption of the French, explains the Élysée .
It is also an opportunity to show an Élysée open for a positive event, while the protest against the pension reform has plummeted the mood for the executive for weeks.
This exhibition is held just before the "Choose France" forum, which expects 220 foreign investors Monday at Versailles, then a president's lunch with 500 bosses of small and medium-sized French companies the next day at the Élysée Palace.
As of the end of the press greetings on Wednesday evening, the workers spent the night on site to begin the installation. Without the Elysian activity stopping. A few hours before the inauguration, a foreign dignitary was received at the Palace.
Each salon is themed: the portraits salon is dedicated to leisure products, the Pompadour salon to health products - with a Carmat artificial heart on the pedestal, the highlight of the exhibition - and the ambassadors' lounge, where the Council of Ministers, illustrates the art of living. The aide-de-camp room hosts clothing and the Murat salon high-tech products.
- Open the Élysée -
From the village hall, you can see in the garden a bus and a tractor. In the main courtyard, you zigzag between giant red containers and a locomotive shell.
Each department is represented by one or two products: the Ain promotes a fire helmet and a sofa, the Allier an oak barrel from the Tronçais forest, the Côte d'Or a mustard with white wine, the Loir-et -Cheap pickles, Paris a high-end oboe ... Overseas is present with vegetable butter from Guadeloupe, an insect repellant from Reunion and a screen from Mayotte.
Some 1,750 companies responded to the call for applications launched this fall. Before being selected by a jury chaired by Secretary of State Agnès Pannier-Runacher and composed of ten personalities, including Arnaud Montebourg, the former Minister for Productive Recovery converted into honey, Yves Jego, who chairs the "Origin" certification France Garantie "or Guillaume Gibault, founder of the French brand Le Slip.
The ecological transition is highlighted because "consuming French is a means of supporting local activity while reducing the environmental footprint", underlines the Élysée. Ocean sneakers woven from plastic harvested from the ocean are presented, a pressure cooker made from recycled stainless steel, a Peugeot 3008 hybrid, a picnic table made with milk bricks or lace in biomaterial to repair corals.
Upon his arrival at the Élysée in 2017, Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron had announced their intention to open the palace doors further, outside of the Heritage Days. They organize an annual music festival open to onlookers. They also welcomed several hundred young people to celebrate the 2018 World Cup with the Blues and hundreds of people to sign the registers of condolence after the death of Jacques Chirac in September.
The Élysée also seeks to promote "made in France" with its range of derivative products (pens, mugs or plush toys), without making as much revenue as the "goodies" of British or Spanish crowns. An ephemeral boutique for Elysian "goodies" will also be open in the Palais this weekend.
© 2020 AFP