Francophiles in Australia might well lament the passing of former President Valery Giscard d’Estang, one of the youngest presidents since Napoleon and the longest survivor at 94. (Vale Valery, 4/12). While French nuclear testing at Mururoa Atoll was unpopular in Australia, d’Estang focused on its peaceful uses, making France energy independent. Aussies would admire his informality as president, regularly visiting his public in pubs and restaurants. Inviting garbage men to the Elysee Palace for breakfast at the end of their shifts was perhaps the ultimate example of egalitarianism. A reformer and architect of modern Europe, the world has lost another good guy. RIP. Alan Sexton, North Parramatta. 5Dec2020.