"_Balladur"

"Could you spell it please?"

"_B.A.L.L…"

As I was writing, I felt like an idiot. How could I explain it?  Stupid for not being capable of spelling the former Prime Minister name. I wish the earth would swallow me up!

But the great lady condescended to the game.

Marie-Josèphe. Of course, the one Laurent Guerra usually names when impersonating her husband.She, flesh and blood! My goodness! Nothing to do with a puppet. I admit certain tenderness toward this woman. And I am not the only one.  

At the Guerlain boutique at the Champs-Élysées opening, Alix Girod de l’Ain* of «ELLE» magazine cracked up when «David», the make-up artist exclaimed when seeing her: I can't believe my eyes! This woman, behind her 16^th district bourgeois façade is really sensitive. Did you know that in a corner of Trocadéro gardens black iris flourish? It is the homage of the gardeners to Madame whose dog was called Iris.

We used to talk about couture, her views, the last trends and about Guy Laroche "a wonderful man" (her words) who had dressed her for years. I told her that I thought he was the couturier who had dressed better Bernadette Chirac. She said nothing. Not the gossip type. I had the opportunity of seeing wonderful haute-couture pieces made for her by Guy Laroche. Would have she dared to wear the famous dress worn by Mireille Darc in the film "Follow That Guy with the One Black Shoe"?

* «ELLE» 20th June, 2005