The third visit of the President of the Republic as part of his Tour de France is devoted to culture and education.
In Hauts-de-France, he celebrated the 400 years of La Fontaine and responded to his detractors who accuse him of being in the countryside and of interfering with the regional scheduled for Sunday.
The President of the Republic continues his Tour de France of the regions.
Emmanuel Macron was in Picardy this Thursday for his third trip, which focused on the theme of education and culture.
In the morning, the president exchanged with students, before going in the afternoon, with the actor Fabrice Luchini, in the birthplace of Jean de La Fontaine to commemorate the fabulist.
But this visit to less than four days of the regional arouses criticism from his opponents who suspect the head of state of being in the countryside.
Emmanuel Macron therefore assumed his presence in the Hauts-de-France, stronghold of Xavier Bertrand, and responded to his detractors.
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"Intimate pilgrimage"
If many of them criticize the presidential trips a few days from the regional, it is Xavier Bertrand who attacks Emmanuel Macron the most head-on. Campaigning for his re-election, the boss of the Hauts de France region denounced Thursday morning, "the confusion created by these trips". By microphone, Emmanuel Macron was quick to respond that his mandate lasted five years. "I said from the start, if the regional as well as the departmental ones are maintained, that should not prevent the government and the president from continuing to work because the situation of the country requires to be fully mobilized. We cannot. to abstain from work. "
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The president also defended himself from interference in the elections.
"They are everywhere in France and as it does not escape you, I do not touch anything of the subjects which are regional. So I do not interfere in this campaign, I simply continue the work for the nation and our compatriots."
Evoking an "intimate pilgrimage", Emmanuel Macron also met at length former students of his maternal grandmother, Germaine Noguès, whom he nicknamed "Manette", and who was school principal for 23 years, from 1946. .
La Fontaine celebration
The program of his trip also included the celebration in Château-Thierry of the 400 years of La Fontaine, accompanied by Fabrice Luchini.
The atmosphere was relaxed and it was about culture, not politics.
Emmanuel Macron, however, defended the author, whom some critics point out as being misogynistic or sexist.
"I find that we have a capacity to be, in a way, the judges with the contemporary spirit of a story, which obviously has made its own progress," said the Head of State, adding that "l anachronism never helps ".
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Moreover, in the morning, a child challenged the president on the slap he received and asked him how he was. "It's okay, it's not pleasant," replied the person. The Head of State must end the day in Villers-Cotterêts to "take stock of the progress of the construction site of the castle of François Ier", which is to host the International City of the French Language.