la Boisserie (France)

I’m writing this entry in English because Dominique’s postcard highlighted a strong cultural difference between the US and France that I wanted to share with people who might not know much about France (but might know a lot about my home country). This is former French president Charles de Gaulle’s office from his private residence La Boisserie in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises.

I think to a US audience, it will not be surprising at all to learn that de Gaulle’s private residence has since been converted into a museum. This is especially the case because if an American can name any French president, present or past, it will likely be Charles de Gaulle (his name on the main airport in Paris doesn’t hurt matters either).

But as Dominique writes, “it is relatively rare that a President of the French Republic have his own memorial.” This is absolutely not the case for US presidents, who have been building their monuments to their own grandeur for decades. One of my favorite podcasts has a great episode precisely on these Yankee Pyramids. Imagine, my fellow Americans, a country that isn’t littered with countless and forgettable grandiose, expensive mausoleums to dead presidents’ hubris!