A tribute was paid Wednesday at the Musée d'Orsay to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, on the occasion of a sober day of national mourning.
The former president died on December 2, at the age of 94, as a result of Covid-19.
A minute of silence was observed at 12 o'clock in several institutions, whose flags were half mast.
Guestbook and areopagus of ministers for a tribute to the Musée d'Orsay, speech by his son to Chamalières.
France greeted the memory of former President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on Wednesday, on the occasion of a sober day of national mourning.
The former head of state on December 2 did not wish for a national tribute, while in September 2019 a national ceremony was organized for former President Jacques Chirac.
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Flags at half mast in several institutions
A minute of silence was observed at 12 noon in several institutions, whose flags were half mast, as well as in the Council of Ministers at the request of the President of the Republic.
"It's my childhood that goes a little": some Parisians braved the cold to come to the Musée d'Orsay in the morning to sign the guest book opened in honor of the former head of state, " a great man "," precursor "sometimes" misunderstood ".
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Jean Castex greeted the family of "VGE"
A large number of ministers as well as political leaders went in the afternoon to the museum, where the head of government Jean Castex greeted the family of "VGE" (his wife Anne-Aymone and his three children Valérie-Anne , Henri and Louis) before signing the condolence register.
"It is important that the country pay him this tribute because faced with the tumult of political life, everyone sees today, in serenity, what they have left", said at the exit of the museum. Education Jean-Michel Blanquer, while the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher greeted "a man who marked the history of our country at a time of change in society".
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Edouard Philippe and Bernard Cazeneuve also present
Also present were the President of the Constitutional Council Laurent Fabius, several party leaders (François Bayrou for the Modem, Marine Le Pen for the RN and Christian Jacob for LR) as well as the former Prime Ministers Edouard Philippe and Bernard Cazeneuve.
"VGE", who presided over France for a single term, from 1974 to 1981, died at the age of 94 on December 2 as a result of Covid-19, surrounded by his family on his property in Authon, small village of Loir-et-Cher where he was buried on Saturday in the strictest family privacy.
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The Musée d'Orsay exceptionally open
Emmanuel Macron, who had decreed this day of national mourning in honor of this "central figure in the history of our Republic", hailed by all as a modernizer and a convinced European, was to receive his family at the Elysee Palace in the middle afternoon.
"It is a president who carried the cause of women loud and clear", recalled after the ceremony at the Musée d'Orsay the Minister for Gender Equality Elisabeth Moreno, referring in particular to the legalization of IVG initiated under his presidency.
The Musée d'Orsay in Paris, created in 1977 on the initiative of the former president, and normally closed due to Covid-19, was exceptionally open for the signing of the Golden Book.
A "very discreet" national mourning
Other registers have been opened in France at the initiative of prefects and mayors.
In Chamalières (Puy-de-Dôme), stronghold of "VGE", few people braved the cold, as in Paris.
It is a national mourning "very discreet, but it looks like it", notes Jacques Boulet, 72 years old.
The youngest son of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Louis, now mayor of Chamalières, will pay tribute to him Thursday evening at the opening of the municipal council.
A tribute from deputies on Tuesday
The office of the National Assembly should for its part propose that a "commemorative plaque" be affixed in the hemicycle, like the one unveiled on September 23 for former President Jacques Chirac.
The deputies paid tribute on Tuesday to the former head of state, who was deputy for Puy-de-Dôme on numerous occasions between 1956 and 2002.
Hospitalized several times in recent months, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing had made one of his last public appearances during the funeral of Jacques Chirac, who was his Prime Minister and later his successor.
Despite the notorious differences between the two men, Jacques Chirac's widow, Bernadette, wrote a letter of condolence to Anne-Aymone Giscard d'Estaing.