The Brits still hate the Frogs.
Chirac is Les Miserables
By MARTIN PHILLIPS
SMUG French President Jacques Chirac’s world fell apart in just 24 hours as London won the Olympic bid and bookies’ favourite Paris was doomed.
At 2pm British time on Tuesday he was crowing like a French cockerel in Singapore that “you can put your trust in France — you can trust the French.”
But by 6pm yesterday — after he heard the decision as he flew in for the G8 summit at Gleneagles — it was all over. He had egg on his face as he was forced to say “I congratulate England” through gritted teeth.
Cocky Chirac had mocked Britain’s farmers and its food in the run-up to the IOC decision, saying that our nation’s only contribution to European farming was Mad Cow Disease and that only Finland had worse food than Britain.
“You can’t trust people who cook as badly as that,” the pompous fool had mocked.
Yesterday it was his people who were left with a bad taste in their mouths — London’s win was harder for Parisians to swallow than a piece of the toughest French beef.
And as they lined up along the Champs Elysées, preening themselves in preparation of victory celebrations, miserable Chirac’s words stuck in their throats.
Postal worker Pierre Lapous, 42, raged: “It’s all Chirac’s fault. If he hadn’t insulted England earlier in the week we would have won easily. London deserves its victory.”
Student Madeleine Latour, 19, fumed: “This is a disaster. Now we have nothing. It’s all down to our stupid president. He should resign immediately.”
Jerome Avel, 33, a banker, seethed: “Chirac was a disaster for the entire campaign. He knows nothing about sportsmanship.”
And cafe worker Olivier Delao, 29, said: “Chirac has ruined everything. He has been an appalling figurehead for our country.”
Chirac’s daft comments could have swung the vote as TWO of the IOC delegates were FINNISH.
Many Paris fans looked close to tears when they heard the result. Others held their heads in their hands.
And the French were just as crazed with grief in Singapore, where the announcement was made. Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe had to comfort his weeping press officer Anne-Sylvie Schneider. And with more than a hint of sour grapes — a French speciality — the mayor questioned British tactics in the bidding process.
Delanoe whinged: “I would like to be fair and congratulate London and the Londoners. I was very nice with the Mayor of London and my friend, Ken Livingstone.
“But I was not that nice with all the members of the London bid because I am not quite sure that we took part in the competition with the same tools and spirit.”
Back in Paris, the rain had already started to fall as 1,000 supporters gathered outside the Hotel De Ville in Paris as the announcement approached.
They ignored the watery omen and cheered loudly as first Moscow, then New York, then Madrid were eliminated. They booed every mention of London. When our capital was announced as the winner they fell into stunned silence.
A few, eyes swivelling like mad cows, gave rude hand gestures; a few more wept; and many sloped off quietly with their tails between their legs.
Jubilant Britons among the crowd might have wondered how you can trust anyone who loses as badly as that.
On the streets of Moscow, New York and Madrid, the mood was subdued but they had not been as cocksure as the French.
In the Big Apple a planned Rockefeller Centre victory party instead turned into an outdoor wake.
In Moscow some hooted car horns in dismay but most stood quietly.
Hundreds of people in the Spanish capital, waving Madrid 2012 and national flags, suddenly fell silent before erupting into a chorus of boos, whistles and insults.
In Paris, as the inconsolable crowds trudged away, the rain fell heavier on one of their darkest days."
thesun.co.uk |
