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OPINION: Meanwhile: The U.S. and France go back a long way

Each day, as I enter the House of Representatives to vote, I find it hard to avoid two rather prominent portraits adjoining the speaker’s platform. The first is of George Washington; the second, of the Marquis de Lafayette.

One might ask why Lafayette, since John Adams, Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln, among others, would be more obvious picks. But Lafayette it is, side by side with his friend, the father of our country.

Events and friendship between the United States and France have had, over the years, a great impact on our history. Clearly, the United States would not have held together in its early years without the dynamism of George Washington.

The Cheapest Disneyland Paris Visit – Buy a Share

The cheapest way to visit Disneyland Paris may be to buy a single share in Euro Disney, the company that operates the theme park.
  
Shareholders who trekked to Euro Disney’s annual meeting on Thursday at Marne-la-Vallee, about an hour by train or car from central Paris, were given two same-day tickets for the firm’s parks there, the Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney Studios.

When you know that Euro Disney shares were trading at 0.45 euro each on Thursday, and that the current entry price at the parks is 49 euros ($59.42) for an adult and 39 euros for a child, it’s easy to do the math!

Too bad this only works if you can attend the annual meeting. The good news is you have a whole year to plan for it!

France arrests 3 bomb suspects

The suspects, two men and a woman, were taken into custody Thursday in Paris and the suburban Val-de-Marne region, police officials said.

They were being held for questioning at the headquarters of French anti-terrorist police.

On Thursday, French authorities said a letter had been received from AZF claiming it was suspending its terror threats while it improves its ability to carry them out.

In excerpts from the letter published in the Paris daily newspaper Le Monde, AZF said it was suspending its activities in order to correct “technical problems.”

The letter carried the logo “AZF” with an arrow in the top left corner.

French consultant tells Kerry: Be less Gauling

A French-born marketing guru has a pointed warning for Democratic wannabe John Kerry: You come off as way too French, mon ami.

“The whole French connection is ‘off-code,’ ” said psychologist Clotaire Rapaille, who helps Fortune 100 companies sell everything from shampoo to the PT Cruiser car by psychoanalyzing cultures. He calls it decoding cultural archetypes.

“The French are thinkers – ‘I think, therefore I am.’ Americans want somebody that is going to take action . . . All this association [of Kerry] with thinking too much and nuance and five-sentence answers is off-code,” he told The Post.

Bush to renew ties on France trip

US President George W Bush will meet French President Jacques Chirac when he visits France in June, the White House has announced.

He will take part in ceremonies on the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landing, a turning point in World War II.

Relations between France and the US were badly strained by the US-led war in Iraq last year.

This announcement is a sign that the two nations are trying to patch up their differences over the war.

France led widespread international opposition to the war, angering the US.

But recently, President Bush has tried to reach out to countries alienated by the invasion, saying they have to work together to overcome the West’s enemies.

Suspected Bomb Found on French Rail Track

France’s state-run SNCF railway found a suspected bomb half-buried on the main line between Paris and the Swiss city of Basle on Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said.

It said in a statement that the device, discovered near the city of Troyes about 90 miles southeast of the French capital, had been made safe by bomb disposal experts.

The statement did not say who was suspected of planting the device but said it did not resemble one left by a shadowy group calling itself AZF, which is demanding cash and threatening to blow up part of the track.

No mention was made in the statement of any Islamic threat.