From Colombey to Kerry

Under arrangements as secret as any that prevailed during his presidency of France, Charles de Gaulle flew off last week for an unexpected visit to the Irish seashore. De Gaulle and his wife Yvonne traveled by French military jet from a small airport near their country home at Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises to the Cork airport. They were met by Prime Minister Jack Lynch and a band of other officials, who hastily assembled to welcome their illustrious guest. The De Gaulles then left by police-escorted limousine for the tiny village of Sneem in County Kerry. There, in a secluded bit of southwestern Ireland, where the Gulf Stream's warm waters nourish subtropical vegetation, the couple had rented a small twelve-room third-class hotel called, the Heron Cove. Normally frequented by hikers and artists, it commands a sweeping view of Kenmare Bay from its 100-acre grounds.

County Kerry might seem like an odd place for the ex-President of France to take a holiday. However, the world's most quintessential Frenchman is partly Irish: his maternal grandmother was born in County Down, Ulster (then a part of Ireland). The main purpose of his trip is not sentimental, though. With the sort of disdainful gesture that is so specially his, De Gaulle has decided to absent himself from France during the election campaign and the voting on June 1 to pick his successor.

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