The more than 200 French and American guests were awestruck as they discovered the scintillating ballroom at the presidential palace, on Saturday, June 8. Twenty-four round tables named after picturesque areas of France and the United States were laid out around the Elysée's long head table: Cévennes, Delaware Water Gap, Port-Cros, Redwood... Splendid bouquets of roses and peonies paired delightfully with the delicate Sèvres porcelain of the plates.

CEOs and movie stars, academics and diplomats, film directors and art dealers, ministers and lawmakers from each country, museum directors and corporate lawyers were present. The joyful buzz of the attendees settled in under the chandeliers, in a dance of tuxedos, bow ties and long dresses as could have been seen on the deck of a 20^th-century transatlantic cruise. The French Army Choir, accompanied by the French Republican Guard String Orchestra conducted by Colonel François Boulanger, included the well-known "Amazing Grace" in its French-American repertoire.

The reception rounded off Joe Biden's official visit to Normandy to commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the D-Day landings. This year, the tributes took quite a different turn. It was no longer just a question of celebrating peace, history and victory, but of rekindling the memory of the fight against Nazi Germany and echoing the new threats to democracy, authoritarian regimes and demagogic temptations that are undermining Western countries. Populists are threatening to withdraw NATO's commitment to the war waged by Russia in Ukraine and to challenge the alliance, which unites European countries and North America. Despite the sacrifices of over 20 million Soviets during World War II, only Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was invited to the commemorations on the Normandy beaches, of the leaders of the countries of the former USSR.

The White House chose the Pointe du Hoc, the promontory at the tip of Normandy's Calvados department, where 225 rangers led the assault on the night of June 6, 1944, to deliver words tinged with gravitas. "Because of them, the war turned. They stood against Hitler's aggression. Does anyone doubt that they would want America to stand up against Putin's aggression here in Europe today? " said the American president on the day before the state dinner. "We're the fortunate heirs of a legacy of these heroes. (...) We need to make a solemn vow to never let them down." With his tanned complexion set against the backdrop of the azure blue sky and sea, that day's images of Biden would be perfect in a campaign video clip ahead of the November 5 election, said some among the Democratic candidate's stalwarts.

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