THERE WAS A chill to the air, but the sun was shining when President and Mrs. Kennedy arrived at Orly Airport promptly at 10:30 A.M. Thousands of enthusiastic spectators stood behind the fence line waving American flags as President and Mrs. Kennedy descended the stairs of Air Force One to full military honors. A police motorcycle escort that numbered at least one hundred strong led the motorcade through the streets of Paris. Waiting at the Place des Pyramides were a hundred Republican Horse Guards in full regalia to replace the motorcycles and lead the procession the rest of the way to the Quai D’Orsay, where President and Mrs. Kennedy would be staying in the royal suite. It was a sight to behold. The French put on an incredible spectacle that rivaled any state visit I had seen. But nobody loved it more than Mrs. Kennedy.
More than two hundred thousand Parisians lined the streets, most of them waving little American flags. There were people hanging out of windows and packed on balconies, eager to catch a glimpse and snap a photo of the handsome American president and his glamorous wife. All along the route people held up welcoming signs and cheered, “Vive le président Kennedy!” But more frequently you would hear the voices in the crowd yelling, “Vive Jac-qui! Vive Jac-qui!” She waved graciously, smiling the entire way, and the French fell madly in love with her.
After a formal luncheon and a visit to a child care center, Mrs. Kennedy returned to the Quai d’Orsay so that she could have a rest and prepare for the state dinner at the Élysée Palace a few hours later. She was tired, but elated.
“Oh, Mr. Hill, wasn’t it magnificent? All the horses and the pageantry! Can you believe they have done this just for us?”
Mrs. Kennedy wasn’t someone who sought the limelight, but the fact that the French had welcomed her with such enthusiasm clearly meant a lot to her.
Meanwhile, President Kennedy and President de Gaulle rode down the Champs-Élysées in another grand motorcade, to the Arc de Triomphe. The blue skies that had greeted the Kennedys in the morning, suddenly turned gray and in the pouring rain, President Kennedy laid a large wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in front of the eternal flame.
THIS TRIP TO France was like a homecoming for Mrs. Kennedy. She had studied in Grenoble and at the Sorbonne in Paris, and had lived with a French family, which enabled her to immerse herself not only in the language but the culture as well. I watched in awe as she spoke comfortably in French to President and Madame de Gaulle, as well as everyone else with whom she came in contact. I had known, of course, that she spoke fluent French, but to watch her in action only increased the respect and admiration I had begun to have for her.
In the past, first ladies were seen, but seldom if ever heard. With the exception of Eleanor Roosevelt, most had not contributed a great deal except for their visual appearance at the necessary functions. Mrs. Kennedy seemed to realize on this trip to Paris that perhaps her growing celebrity status could be used for a great deal of good.
She went to an école de puériculture, a child care and training center, visiting the children and raising awareness about problems associated with the health and well-being of children throughout the world. She accompanied the president to the Hôtel de Ville—Paris’s City Hall—and helped translate as her husband met with French officials. She met with female members of the press corps. Agent Jeffries accompanied Mrs. Kennedy to all of these events, while it was my job, as the advance man, to be at every venue ahead of time, making sure everything was secure and ready for her arrival. Everything went like clockwork, and it was satisfying for me to see how much Mrs. Kennedy was enjoying the trip.
She would see me standing in a doorway as she entered and even if she were in deep conversation with whomever she happened to be walking with, she would make eye contact with me. I had gotten to the point where I could read her mood by her eyes, and she was clearly having a wonderful time.
The event that captured her most was the spectacular white-tie dinner at Versailles. As is customary for Europeans, the evening event didn’t begin until 8:00 P.M. I was waiting at Versailles—about a thirty minute drive outside of Paris—to be there when the President and Mrs. Kennedy arrived. As she stepped out of the limousine, I thought she looked like a queen. She had on an ivory silk overcoat that she removed as soon as she entered the palace, revealing an exquisite sleeveless floor-length dress that had been hand embroidered with pastel flowers on the bodice. She had arranged for a Parisian hairdresser to style her hair in a bouffant piled on top of her head, accented by a diamond hair clip. President de Gaulle couldn’t take his eyes off of her, and I daresay neither could any of the other guests—men or women. My job was not to watch her, but to watch what was going on around her.
A long rectangular dining table had been set up in the Hall of Mirrors, set with beautiful flower arrangements and huge candelabras that provided a magical ambience as the flickering flames of the candles were multiplied by the mirrors on either side of the room. President de Gaulle sat between President Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy, but spent the majority of the evening conversing with Mrs. Kennedy. Even from a distance I could see that he was captivated by her. Not only was she fluent in the language, but she was also well educated in French art and history. There was no doubt that Mrs. Kennedy’s intelligence and charm, combined with her ability to converse in French
