Vive la Russie! Vive la France!

 

s the music of the Russian national anthem resonated in the background, such eager exclamations greeted President Loubet upon his arrival at Krondstadt (now the sister city of Toulon, France) on May 7th, 1902. Loubet was met by Nicholas II and, during his stay, resided in a luxurious room at the Great Palace in Tsarskoe Selo.

While visiting the capital on May 9th, Loubet participated in various festivities, mostly demonstrating symbolic gestures of diplomacy between France and Russia. The President, like Nicholas II and Alexandra Fedorovna before him in Paris in 1897, was met with great excitement. Escorted through the city, Petersburgers cried out joyously ura! and Vive la France! while brandishing French flags and bearing pictures of Loubet.

The President’s visit prompted the re-naming of Gagarinskaia Embankment – where the French embassy was located – to Frantsuzskaia Embankment.