Monday, noon,
Roissy Airport: Renaud
Muselier arrives from Marseille. Strike; delay. 13:40 the Air France
Airbus A-320 takes off for Moscow. 16:40 transit at Cheremetievo. 19:40
steering southeast aboard an Aeroflot Tupolev 154. Muselier falls asleep.
"I try to immediately adjust to time differences."
00:30 dawn over the taiga. The Minister wakes, exercises, karate style.
Tuesday, 2:00 Ulaanbaatar (9, local
time). Cadillac and VIP residence: a true head of state welcome. Ten
hours of official receptions in a row. 4 hours of foreign affairs. 4:35
Presidency of the Republic. 5:30 Prime Minister. Speeches, translation,
progressive dullness. Eyes twitching. "You need to stay focused,
mumbles Muselier. No stoppage." 6:30 official breakfast.
Paris or Marseille time: first café-croissants. Here, shrimp
Jell-O, herring roll, boiled mutton, vodka. Toasts, speeches, translation.
7:45 Presidency of the Parliament. 8:30 French Embassy. 9 Hospital of
traumatology.
9:45 seismic listening Post, managed by France.
10:30 Hospital of Charity. Sister
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Marie-Françoise and Sr. Marie-
Dominique, two French nuns from Fraternite Notre Dame have built an
oasis of generosity. Twenty thousand patients are attended there each
year. Muselier remains silent, he listens, impressed par the scarcity
of means and scope of work accomplished. Smiling, energetic, the Sisters
show us their little ones. The children nestle on their arms briskly.
11:15 French Cultural Center.
11:30 exhibition "From Genghis Khan to the Xiongnu Empire",
organized with the help of the musée Guimet. 12:30 reception
at Bistrot français in the presence of the French community
in Mongolia (about 30 persons). Comfortable coaches, petits-fours
and photos souvenirs. Tuesday, 15:00
it is 22:00 in Mongolia: aiming at the residence. The delegation has
been up for about 30 hours. Non-stop. "Exciting, isn't it
?", enquires Muselier before going to bed, his eyes bright
with fatigue. Then he quotes these words from Paul Bourget for me:
"If you do not live
like you think, you end up thinking like you live."
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