Chirac’s birthday suit, a spat with Schumacher and the €34,000 pool: strange tales from Fort Brégan?on

So it’s goodbye Lake Garda and hello Fort Brégan?on, as Theresa May cuts short her Italian sojourn to attend a summit with Emmanuel Macron in France.

That powwow is taking place at the French president’s official retreat, the oft-maligned Fort Brégan?on, which sits on its own island overlooking the Med between Toulon and Saint-Tropez.

Sounds ideal, but the fortress has had a strained relationship with French presidents, one that began in 1968 when Charles de Gaulle turned the defunct military fortress into an official residence.

According to Le Point – a French news magazine – the general loved the citadel’s sea views and military heritage (its fortifications had been bolstered on the orders of Napoleon).  

Yet de Gaulle reportedly stayed at the fort for just one solitary night after being dive-bombed by mosquitoes in a bed too small for his towering frame (6'5", a stature that earned him the curious nickname of “the great asparagus”).

His successor, Georges Pompidou, by contrast, was a regular guest. He reportedly invested a lot of time and money sprucing the old place up and regularly hosted soirees there. According to Le Point, Pompidou chose Fort Brégan?on as the place to write his will.

Valérie Giscard d’Estaing, Pompidou’s successor, is quoted saying he “tasted perfect happiness” at the fort, despite bemoaning its lack of a tennis court.

The love-in wouldn’t last, however, and the citadel soon fell out of favour with the arrival of Fran?ois Mitterrand, who, during his 14-year tenure, spent only a handful of nights bedding down at the residence.

Typically, his successor, Jacques Chirac, is the source of the best anecdotes from Fort Brégan?on.

In 2001, while president, he was photographed at one of the fort’s windows, peering through a pair of binoculars. He was totally naked at the time. The photographs were swiftly sent to the French press, but no editor felt bold enough to publish them.

They were, however, willing to describe them in colourful editorials. Le Canard Enchané, a satirical weekly, said the photographs “show the president in the most basic of all attires and displaying the principal organs of state”.

Perhaps more interesting than the naked photographs of the President was what he had his binoculars fixed on: a yacht belonging to the Formula One driver Michael Schumacher.

Le Point claims Chirac’s security services were irked at how close Schumacher’s yacht was sailing to the island and had put in a complaint to the F1 ace. However, Le Canard Enchané suggests Chirac, who had a long-standing reputation as a womaniser, was more interested in what was on the deck of Schumacher’s yacht: a bevy of scantily-clad women.

Perhaps wary about being papped in his birthday suit, Nicolas Sarkozy spent very little time at Fort Brégan?on. Fran?ois Hollande probably wishes he had done the same after being snapped soaking up the sun at a nearby beach while the French economy tanked.

Hollande did leave his legacy at Fort Brégan?on, however; under his premiership the residence was opened up to the general public for restricted visits. Tickets go for €10 a pop.  

And so to Emmanuel Macron, who is showing signs that he’ll make good use of Fort Brégan?on. Indeed, he caused a minor scandal earlier this summer after it was announced that a swimming pool would be installed at the 17th century fort, at the cost of €34,000 to the taxpayer. Suffice to say his popularity took a dive.

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