So, Bastille Day - it commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July, 1789; the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation and the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. Le President used to give an interview to members of the press discussing, well, France like recent events and projects and stuff. Nice things. Nicolas Sarkozy has chosen not to give it. Article 17 of the Constitution of France gives the President the authority to pardon criminals and, since 1991, the President has pardoned many petty offenders (mainly traffic offices) on 14 July. President Sarkozy has declined to do so. No wonder he is unpopular.
Paris remains my favorite city and I am blessed to have gotten to know her. Soon I will re-union with Astorg Partners on their Fund V - maybe €one billion - which will allow plenty of channel crossings I'm sure. Astorg is a special firm who began its history inside Suez S.A. and allowed to separate when Suez merged with Lyonnaise General Des Eaux in '97 forming a water, gas and electricity conglomerate with no need for private equity. Astorg had some separation anxiety losing two partners while struggling to meet their fundraising targets. Investors who took the leap have been rewarded: Astorg has killed it with top-quartile performance and a number of huge exits including GeoServices earlier this year which went to Schlumberger for 7X cost.
Here is my French factoid for the day: according to Boston Consulting, there are 280,000 US dollar millionaires living in France in 2010, or 0.45% of the total population.
Me: "What do you think of France?"
Eitan: "I like the Alps."
Madeleine: "I like the Eiffel Tower. And the chocolate croissants." Eitan: "And the crepes with chocolate and banana."
Madeleine: "Yes! Definitely with chocolate. I also like the plain ones."
So, Bastille Day - it commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July, 1789; the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation and the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. Le President used to give an interview to members of the press discussing, well, France like recent events and projects and stuff. Nice things. Nicolas Sarkozy has chosen not to give it. Article 17 of the Constitution of France gives the President the authority to pardon criminals and, since 1991, the President has pardoned many petty offenders (mainly traffic offices) on 14 July. President Sarkozy has declined to do so. No wonder he is unpopular.