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Friday, June 18, 2010

Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur

Today, Friday June 18, is a day commemorated by the French to mark the anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's radio appeal to German-occupied France.

In the UK the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni will visit the BBC radio studio in London where the General famously urged his compatriots to resist Nazi occupation in a BBC broadcast on 18 June 1940. Later, Mr Sarkozy, joined by Prince Charles, will lay a wreath on the Mall at the statue of the Queen's father George VI. About 800 people from the Charles de Gaulle Foundation, the Free French Foundation and other groups have been invited to London to join events.


Here in our village of Montblanc it's a very important day too, and we attended a special ceremony with some of our good friends in the village, Robert and Myriam Chauvel. They gave us a special invitation to attend an event organised to celebrate the award to Robert of 'Le Grade de Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur' (Militaire) - a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, the day of June 18 being chosen especially to mark the honour of receiving the award.

 

The Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur' is the highest decoration in France and was created by Napoleon to reward and commend both civilians and military for distinguished service.

There are not many such awards and Robert joins an elite group which also includes foreigners and people outside of military service such as President Dwight Eisenhower (although he was given the award for his services during WWII), filmmakers Clint Eastwood, David Lynch, Steven Spielberg, Ellen MacArthur, sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur, author J. K. Rowling, playwright Harold Pinter, celebrities Barbra Streisand, Céline Dion... Wow! Our friend Robert joins the 'A' list!


However he was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur not because he's a singer, film director or author but because of his many outstanding deeds during his long career in the army.

This included being part of the group that helped liberate Paris during WWII, and so many other acts of bravery carried out whilst defending the freedom of his country.

Obviously this is a great honour for Robert, and of course, his wife Myriam is just as thrilled, as can be seen by the photo below taken at the reception after the award ceremony.

Miriam went to great trouble to ensure the event was well celebrated, inviting close friends and Robert's friends from the military, both present and past.




It was an enjoyable and long day, and David was feeling quite chuffed that he should be invited (the only non-French person present!) to be at such an auspicious event.

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