I mentioned yesterday a moving essay
French screenwriter Fred Gion published in the Dallas Morning News on
Sunday. The DMN website finally has it up
here. Excerpt:
One can easily find hundreds of places across France where a strong link
between my country and America is memorialized. But there is a special place
I love in the Jardins du Trocadéro, not far from the Eiffel Tower. In this
public garden stands a beautiful sequoia given to the French people by the
American people in 1989. On the ground there’s a plaque that reads: In
gratitude for two centuries of friendship.
This is where I’ll meet a group of French friends today. We will pray for
the kids who died on D-Day, for the men and women in uniform serving bravely
in Iraq. This is not the time to betray our American brothers. I apologize
to my American friends for all the terrible things the French press will say
during these days.
Even if our voices can’t cover the unfriendly background noise, we want to
send a message to Mr. Bush “Welcome to France, Mister President!”