Macron receives Xi Jinping, Chinese President, in the French Pyrenees

The French president took Xi Jinping to his childhood haunts, atop the Pyrenees, in hopes of building ties. If only the weather had cooperated.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who believes a personal touch is key to diplomacy, lured Chinese President Xi Jinping to On a Tuesday, he crossed a 7,000-foot pass in the Pyrenees, hoping to show off the panoramic views that had marked his childhood, but instead discovered dense fog and wild snow showers.

It was a long and slippery drive up the mountain, in torrential rain, but that didn't stop crowds of Chinese admirers with red flags and pennants from gathering in almost every village along the way, miraculously transposed to a remote region of southwest France and seemingly uniform in their enthusiasm.

Undeterred, but with two hours late, Mr. Macron welcomed Mr. Xi under an umbrella at one of his favorite restaurants, L'Étape du Berger, or Shepherd's Stop, where dancers in colorful local costumes twirled and jumped to the sound of a flute, an accordion and a tom-tom.

Mr. Xi was impassive, but his wife, Peng Liyuan, smiled broadly and applauded.

Using the familiar “you” to address Mr. Xi, 70, rather than the formal "you" that would have been more usual between heads of state, Mr. Macron, 46, gave the Chinese leader a yellow jersey signed by last year's Tour de France winner, Jonas Vingegaard, a cyclist Danish.

“I know how much you love sport,” Mr. Macron said. Mr Xi is known for his interest in football.

The Col du Tourmalet, where the leaders met, has legendary status in the Tour de France; its steep and winding climb is a severe test. It is also a place dear to Mr. Macron, who regularly came here from his home in northern France to stay with his neighboring maternal grandmother, Germaine Nogues, the member of his family about whom he speaks most effusively.

Image Crowds of Chinese admirers gathered in almost every village along the way .Credit...Photo of swimming pool by Aurélien Morissard

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