The President of the Republic landed in French Polynesia on Sunday for a four-day trip.

On Monday, he went to meet the inhabitants of the Marquesas Islands and attended a welcoming ceremony.

Emmanuel Macron also takes advantage of this visit to support the archipelago's candidacy for Unesco World Heritage.

This is the first visit of a French President to the Marquesas Islands.

After a stopover in Japan for the opening of the Olympic Games, the Head of State landed in Papeete for a four-day visit to Polynesia.

Emmanuel Macron arrived Monday on the island of Hiva-Oa, one of the six islands of the Marquesas archipelago, at the end of Monday afternoon.

"Welcome home, welcome home!"

First destination of the Head of State: the cemetery where the singer Jacques Brel and the painter Paul Gauguin are buried facing the ocean.

The Head of State then attended a big ceremony at the stadium of the main village of the island, at the water's edge, in the Marquesan tradition.

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The voice of the mayor of the municipality of Hiva-Oa Joelle Frebault thus welcomed Emmanuel Macron: "Mr. President of the Republic, you do us the immense honor of being the first Head of State to come to the Marquesas Islands ".

“Welcome home, welcome to the land of men and welcome home!” She added.

Several hundred dancers from the six islands of the archipelago danced a "Mave maï", a welcoming dance with songs and drums, then they sang a Marseillaise facing the ocean.

Emmanuel Macron has even been given a Marquesan name meaning "the great leader who walks and who will go far".

"To fight for these traditions, this culture, these civilizations"

At the end of the ceremony, on a platform fitted out on large canoes, the President pledged to fight for the candidature of the Marquesas Islands for Unesco World Heritage.

"This nature, this biodiversity, it is not a technical word. It is your life, it is your landscapes, it is your birds. It is our landscapes, it is our birds", declared Emmanuel Macron.

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The head of state also promised to "fight for these traditions, this culture, these civilizations" before going to meet the Marquesans as soon as night falls on the island.