Jacques Chirac delivers his televised statement
Those following French politics from the northern side of the Channel should imagine they are very familiar with outgoing president Jacques Chirac. Yet how many times over his long tenure would a British viewer have actually seen and heard him at length on the television, without the intermediary of a reporter, a dubbed translation, the distance of a quickly cut news edit?
Here's a video of Chirac announcing his support for Sarkozy today. It's not quite a Blair "bovvered?" moment - but if the full-on, direct Chirac is new to you too, is that strangely mannered presentation and weird smile honestly what you were expecting?
