Philip Delves Broughton in the Telegraph (UK) dishes Feasting and tax breaks as Chirac reins in his press:
Under the debauched gaze of Putti, President Chirac welcomed the Paris press corps to the Elysee Palace yesterday to offer his New Year wishes.More Gallic hijinks by following the link.
Five hundred journalists stood through speeches by their association president and M Chirac before swooping on a feast turned out by the Elysee chefs: roast duck, petits fours and case upon case of champagne. It is not every day that most of them see the inside of the palace, and they went for the food like schoolboys at a cricket tea.
After his speech, M Chirac stepped into the crowd, tanned from his New Year holiday in Morocco, and was swamped by pallid journalists cravenly seeking his hand or a photograph.
