He Walks Among Us

And them , too:

When dining out Saturday night at a no-star bistro, La Fontaine de Mars , the presidential party was served water, Coke and table wine to accompany foie gras, lamb and steak with shallots, and paid for meals “like any client,” said owner Jacques Boudon. “It’s just what they wanted.”

“And I think they were very happy since they stayed three-quarters of an hour after dining,” he said by telephone.

Boudon was over the moon.

The table had been reserved 10 days earlier but he only knew his guests were the Obamas that morning.

“I saw God before me,” he said, “because I saw this smile that a million people have seen around the world. I saw her (Michelle) radiant. . . . It’s idiotic, but it’s like that.”

Now, heaven forfend that I should impute to this humble restauranteur what might only be coming across courtesy of the AP’s now-habitual bad editing and third-rate copy. But it sure does seem like that , and it is idiotic. I say this as a bald-faced Francophile eager for France to (once again) seize the imagination — and destiny — of Europe.