Sophomore Jake Galloway drew a portrait of Chirac for the Regional Foreign Language Fair, which was at Murray State University on March 8. He entered it in the frameable art contest and won second place, while Trigg student Lindsey Darnall won first place.
As the students boarded the bus to head home, Galloway offered French teacher Matthew Lindsey the portrait as a gift. After Lindsey accepted it, the gears in his mind started turning. On a whim, he decided to go to the presidential palace Web site and look up the contact information for Chirac’s office. He then wrote a letter in French to the office asking if the president would be interested in receiving the portrait and enclosed a photograph of it and Galloway.
Lindsey said he hadn’t necessarily expected to hear back from the president’s office, so he didn’t even mention to Galloway that he sent the letter. He couldn’t resist mentioning it to his other classes, though. By the time Lindsey told him he had received a letter of response, everyone seemed to know about it except for Galloway.
“Even my sister (Sarah) knew before I did,” Galloway said.
In the letter, Marchand wrote that the president was “very moved” by the portrait and touched by Galloway’s show of “l’esteem” (respect). He told Lindsey in the letter that he should contact the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. and that they would act as “par l’intermediaire,” a term Lindsey had not heard before. It meant that he could send it to the president through the embassy with them acting as a go-between.
For the rest of this story, read this week's Cadiz Record.
