Continuing a memorial itinerary begun on May 8 with a tribute to Jean Moulin in Lyon, he will also launch Tuesday preparations for the 80th anniversary of the Allied landing of June 6, 1944 which will take place in 2024.

The head of state is expected in the afternoon on the site of Mont Saint-Michel to celebrate the millennium of the foundation of the abbey which stands out on the famous rocky islet of the English Channel.

He must visit the exhibition "The abode of the archangel", which traces through thirty objects the history of this jewel of French heritage, and give a speech.

Will the head of state make the link with the political news, punctuated in recent weeks by the long pension crisis, while his popularity rating rebounds after several months of strong mistrust?

Since François Mitterrand in 1983, presidents have flocked to this emblematic place to carry their message.

A silver statue of Saint-Michel in the exhibition "The Abode of the Archangel" at Mont Saint-Michel (Manche), May 23, 2023 © Damien MEYER / AFP / Archives

In 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy chose to launch his presidential campaign there.

The "walls and eternity of the Mount" embody just like the forces that landed on June 6, 1944 in Normandy "the notions of resistance and resilience," says an adviser to Emmanuel Macron.

The silhouette of the abbey, between land and sea, symbolizes "everything that makes the French a people of conquerors and builders," notes the Elysee. "It is a place that attests to the ability of our people to adapt to the times" and that embodies the "battles that must and will have to be fought" in ecological matters and climate change.

Ecological issue

The Mont Saint-Michel site, faced with recurring silting problems, has been the subject of gigantic works, completed in 2015, to allow it to become an island again.

Already in 1983, François Mitterrand came to say that man must come to the rescue of nature to repair what he himself had helped to destroy.

Protesters against the pension reform near Mont Saint-Michel, April 7, 2023 © Damien MEYER / AFP/Archives

The most visited site in the country outside Ile-de-France, Mont-Saint-Michel attracted 2.8 million visitors last year, including 1.3 million for the abbey.

It will not be closed to visitors during the presidential visit, but the prefect of La Manche has established a protective perimeter, with search at the entrance, for the commemorations of the millennium.

The head of state was regularly greeted by concerts of pots and pans during his travels after the adoption of the pension reform in mid-April.

And the executive will again face a day of mobilization on Tuesday, two days before the examination in Parliament of a bill to repeal retirement at 64.

Tuesday morning, Emmanuel Macron will move to Colleville-Montgomery (Calvados), on the site of the landing, to attend not the traditional ceremonies of June 6, planned in Ver-sur-Mer and chaired by the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, but the annual commemoration organized by the School of Marines Rifles.

He will give with Léon Gautier, 100 years old, the last living Frenchman to have participated in the landing, the green berets to the students who have just succeeded in their commando course.

His presence is a tribute to the 177 French who landed on June 6, 1944, grouped within the Kieffer Commando, alongside the 132,000 allies.

Above all, the head of state will officially install the public interest group that will be responsible for preparing the major commemorations planned for the 80th anniversary.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, also elected from Calvados, will also be present in Colleville, the opportunity for the two heads of the executive to appear side by side after the reframing of Emmanuel Macron to the head of government last week on the strategy to adapt to the National Rally.

© 2023 AFP