by Elizabeth Pineau and Michael Holden
PARIS, September 20 (Reuters) – King Charles III will arrive in France on Wednesday for a three-day state visit during which he and President Emmanuel Macron hope to rebuild Franco-British ties after years of tension over of Brexit.
King Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, will begin their visit with a military ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe where they will notably witness a passage by the Patrouille de France and the British Red Arrows.
A state dinner will be organized on Wednesday evening at the Palace of Versailles, where the royal couple will be served a starter consisting of “blue lobster and pigeon crab”, Bresse poultry accompanied by a porcini gratin and a plate of cheeses.
Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte will visit on Thursday alongside King Charles and Queen Camilla the construction site of Notre-Dame Cathedral, ravaged by a fire in 2019.
The royal couple will travel to Bordeaux on Friday to visit an organic vineyard.
Francophone, like Elizabeth II before him, King Charles should evoke the deep affection his mother had for France, officials said, while this trip should serve to rebuild Franco-British ties damaged by Brexit.
Initially scheduled for the spring shortly after their coronation, Charles and Camilla’s state visit to France was postponed due to unrest linked to pension reform.
(Reporting Elizabeth Pineau, Michael Holden and Noemie Olive; written by Ingrid Melander and Michel Rose; French version Camille Raynaud)
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