Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by his First Lady, will soon be on the road for the Var coast. After a second five-year term heckled at all levels, the Head of State will stay there for two to three weeks, to recharge his batteries and set off again to attack French political life from the start of the school year, scheduled for September. The Fort de Brégançon, this place full of stories and surprising anecdotes, will host the summer holidays of the Head of State. However, the fact remains that some leaders did not like their stays there.
General De Gaulle, François Mitterrand or even Jacques Chirac… Many former tenants of the Élysée Palace did not appreciate a stay on the strategic Var site. More recently, it was Emmanuel Macron’s predecessor who did not appreciate his holidays. Indeed, François Hollande, President of the Republic from 2012 to 2017, preferred the Résidence de la Lanterne, near Versailles.
If the current presidential couple particularly enjoy their stays in this residence located in the town of Bormes-les-Mimosas, in the Var, this was not the case for François Hollande, who only stayed there once in during his term. The former President of the Republic thus left Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron the heavy responsibility of organizing a number of works in this fort dating from the 17th century.
As Gala revealed in 2019, in 2018 alone, 150,000 euros were to be committed by the Élysée to renovate the official residence. This impressive sum included in particular the restoration of the kitchen for 50,000 euros, painting work to the tune of 10,000 euros, as well as the modernization of the electrical network of the fort (10,000 euros also). Note that the Macron couple not only gave Brégançon a facelift, but also had a private swimming pool built there in 2018. With a high cost of no less than 34,000 euros, financed by the holiday budget of the president provided for by the Élysée.
After being entrusted by François Hollande to the Center des Monuments Nationaux (CMN), it was therefore Emmanuel Macron who took it over. The Élysée now assumes the financing of the site for an annual envelope of 150,000 euros, down from the 200,000 euros budgeted in recent years. But according to the Court of Auditors, the operating budget has decreased significantly to reach the modest sum of 400,000 euros.
In addition to these renovation costs, we can also add those of surveillance and protection of the presidential couple. Even before their arrival, the fortress is under close surveillance, gendarmes crisscross the area to prevent any unknown approach, whether by car, on foot, by sea or by air. That’s not all, since security forces follow the couple in each of their movements.
The Élysée prefers to warn about the counting of these costs. They are already counted as part of the service and protection of the president and therefore will not need to be added, as Capital clarifies. However, it takes 60,000 euros to secure the bathing area at sea, requiring the presence of the services of professional divers and boats of the national gendarmerie. Clearly, a substantial budget is used for executive summer vacations.