For the 105th consecutive year, the end of the First World War was celebrated in Compiègne (Oise), on the very spot where peace was signed to put an end to the terrible War 14-18. However, it is difficult to commemorate peace when wars devastate Ukraine and the Middle East.
A paradox that did not escape the attention of the guest of honour on Saturday, the writer and journalist Philippe Labro. "Armistice, literally, means that the guns are silent, may they be silent anywhere in the world," concluded the man who was the guest of honour at the ceremonies for the first time.
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A first also for Prisca Thévenot, Secretary of State for Youth and Universal National Service of France, responsible for representing the Head of State in Compiègne. A role that she fulfilled with seriousness and a smile... but perhaps having underestimated the soggy state of the Compiègne forest.
His crossing of the triumphal alley to the Armistice clearing, simply shod with ballerinas, will remain as a performance. "As we honour those who sacrificed for our freedom, let us remember their bravery and pledge to preserve peace," the Secretary of State said. Together with the mayor (LR) of Compiègne, Philippe Marini, she will stop in front of each group of children spread out on either side of the alley with torches. This is also a first for most of them.
"We kept rehearsing all the way to the bus when we came," says the teacher in charge of the Compiègne schoolchildren who performed a dynamic "Marseillaise" a few minutes later.
The day of glory arrived this Saturday for the children of Compiègne who performed the Marseillaise during the ceremony on November 11 in the clearing of Rethondes.
Among the parliamentarians present, it was also a great first for Alexandre Ouizille, recently elected senator, who attended his first November 11 in Compiègne. "It's really a very impressive clearing," says the elected official, between two glances at the Alsatian monument or the Foch statue.
In the audience, if the regulars are in their seats, others open their eyes wide and admire the site and the commemorations for the first time. "We decided out of the blue, it was our son who started talking to us about the First World War, which he is studying at school," explains a couple accompanied by their two boys.
One of them is also very intrigued by the object carried by Colonel Sécher, commander of the 110 Air Base and the Creil Defense Base. "It's a dagger, because for us aviators, the sabre is too big to fit in the cockpit of the plane," the officer told the young boy. Attending the 11th of November at the Armistice Glade is a bit like history coming to life before the eyes of visitors. It's the kind of first you don't forget, whether you're a schoolboy, a minister, a parent or a senator.