Pierre Mendès France Homage

Agnès wants to pay tribute to this great man she loved.

In La 20ème heure radio show in october 2024, Agnès recalled about former French politician Pierre Mendès France :

"For a while, when I was married to Jean-René de Fleurieu, my second husband, he was my father-in-law, Jean-René’s stepfather. I adored Pierre. I spent a lot of time listening to him, with a baby in my arms and another playing on the floor during summer holidays in the Gard. Sometimes, when he was in Paris and his wife and my husband were down south, Pierre would take me out for couscous, in his little doorless Mini Moke - he’d have his hat and his cane - and he’d invite me to dinner. It was wonderful. I learned so much by his side. He told me about his escape from the prison in Clermont-Ferrand. He wanted to climb down a tree, but there were lovers under the wall who wouldn’t leave. He told me this story in his very orderly way. Once, he showed a bidet to an American woman. She asked, “Is it to wash a baby in?” He replied, “No, it’s to wash the baby out.” He loved that joke. (Laughs)".