Fort de Brégançon
Coordinates: 43°05′36″N 6°19′20″E / 43.093384°N 6.32216°E
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The Fort de Brégançon served as the official retreat of the President of France from 1968 to 2013. It will become a national monument.
Location
It rests on a small island off the French Mediterranean coast. It is connected by a short causeway to the mainland and lies in the commune of Bormes-les-Mimosas in the Var department.
History
The fort became a presidential residence in 1968 during the presidency of Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970).[1]
It was used only once by President Nicolas Sarkozy and his ex-wife Cecilia.[1] It was also only used once by President François Hollande (born 1954) and his partner Valérie Trierweiler (born 1965), in the summer of 2012, when it was discovered it wasn't sufficiently private, and too easy of a target for papparazzi.[1]
In October 2013, it was announced it would become a national monument open to the public, in an effort to reduce state expenditure.[1] Indeed, the maintenance and staffing of the property cost £200,000 a year.[1] Instead, La Lanterne, a hunting lodge in Versailles will become the official retreat of the French President.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Rory Mulholland, François Hollande gives up de Gaulle's summer retreat, The Daily Telegraph, October 13, 2013
External links
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