A state dinner with the U.K.’s king cost the French nearly €500,000.

A decadent dinner costing nearly €475,000 for the U.K.’s King Charles III helped push France’s Élysée Palace — the office of President Emmanuel Macron —to a record high deficit last year.

France’s love for grand gestures and opulent dining are fully in evidence in the pages of a damning  yearly audit of the Élysée’s budget, released on Monday by the Cour des Comptes, France’s top audit court.

The Élysée’s spending, which includes costs related to the president’s diplomatic and presidential duties as well as administration, personnel, security and estate management, reached a whopping €125 million, plunging the books €8.3 million into the red.

Among the biggest deficit drivers were two luxurious state dinners, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and King Charles III.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    Missed the “K” in the title and thought for a minute “well, I don’t know, that sounds reasonable…”

    I’m going back to sleep now.

    • Bassman1805@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      Famous chefs who have more people requesting them than they have time in the day, so they go to whoever pays the most.

      Like, Gordon Ramsey still does private events, but only if they pay more than he could be making with his TV deals.

      • bluGill@kbin.run
        0·
        4 months ago

        Meanwhile just as good chefs that didn’t get the fame break (or possibly better but their personality means they shouldn’t be let out of the kitchen) are struggling to make ends meet.

        • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          0·
          4 months ago

          same as it ever was.

          Pick an industry that is also the case. In marketing There are people earning 7 figures for configuring a Google ads deck that a talented undergrad could do in half the time

          In acting you can just throw a dart at the SAG directory.

          Painting, music, business administration, politics. You name it.

        • TriPolarBearz@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          4 months ago

          Gordon: welcome to my fancy private dinner experience. What can I make for you?

          Guest: I would like your finest grilled cheese sandwich please.

          Gordon: oh fuck, oh shit!

          • andrewta@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            4 months ago

            Lol I can hear him saying that.

            Also for good measure

            “for dessert I’d like, a banana freshly peeled with a small glass of grocery store orange juice.”

            • UselesslyBrisk@infosec.pubEnglish
              0·
              4 months ago

              For one…thats a melt. And it doesnt look great. But I think there in lies the rub. even the best chefs get there by experimenting and trying new things and even then, when they get outside their wheelhouse, they arent any better than that dude at your local diner.

              • Obi@sopuli.xyzEnglish
                0·
                4 months ago

                You people make me sick.

                A grilled cheese consists of only these following items. Cheese. Bread with spread (usually butter). This entire subreddit consist of “melts”. Almost every “grilled cheese” sandwich i see on here has other items added to it. The fact that this subreddit is called “grilledcheese” is nothing short of utter blasphemy.

                Let me start out by saying I have nothing against melts, I just hate their association with sandwiches that are not grilled cheeses. Adding cheese to your tuna sandwich? It’s called a Tuna melt. Totally different. Want to add bacon and some pretentious bread crumbs with spinach? I don’t know what the hell you’d call that but it’s not a grilled cheese.

                I would be more than willing to wager I’ve eaten more grilled cheeses in my 21 years than any of you had in your entire lives. I have one almost everyday and sometimes more than just one sandwich. Want to personalize your grilled cheese? Use a mix of different cheeses or use sourdough or french bread. But if you want to add some pulled pork and take a picture of it, make your own subreddit entitled “melts” because that is not a fucking grilled cheese.

                I’m not a religious man nor am I anything close to a culinary expert. But as a bland white mid-western male I am honestly the most passionate person when it comes to grilled cheese and mac & cheese. All of you foodies stay the hell away from our grilled cheeses and stop associating your sandwich melts with them. Yet again, it is utter blasphemy and it rocks me to the core of my pale being.

                Shit, I stopped lurking after 3 years and made this account for the sole purpose of posting this. I’ve seen post after post of peoples “grilled cheeses” all over reddit and it’s been driving me insane. The moment I saw this subreddit this morning I finally snapped. Hell, I may even start my own subreddit just because I know this one exists now.

                You god damn heretics. Respect the grilled cheese and stop changing it into whatever you like and love it for it what it is. Or make your damn melt sandwich and call it for what it is. A melt.

            • deranger@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              0·
              4 months ago

              What the fuck was that?? I was hoping for some chronic grilly chee but that was an abomination. I’ve seen children make better grilled cheese sandwiches.

    • snooggums@midwest.socialEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      Perfection costs a whole lot more than really, really good because costs go up exponentially.

      You need multiple times the staff on hand to cook and server everything at the same time, and they should be highly paid professionals. You need to be able to discard the majority of your food supplies, which already cost a lot more than normal, to have the perfect version of every dish. The setting probably costs a lot to set up and clean up after, and attention to detail costs time and money.

      It is a huge waste, but that is why it costs so much.

      • BakerBagel@midwest.socialEnglish
        0·
        4 months ago

        Everyone also has to pass a bunch of security and background checks, which costs money as well. And i am sure the supply chains for staye dinners are more expensive for the same reason

  • p0windah@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    This breaks down into a nightmare in my mind.

    What are the components of a meal and the service attached to it that can be stretched to the maximum for someone who “has everything”.

    Honestly, expensive produce doesn’t generate this sort of expense.

    Must the catering staff all hold MBA’s? Each fork is hundreds of years old and polished to a mirror finish?

    The carpet and underlay, is freshly laid for the meal; and then immediately ripped up and destroyed afterwards.

    I doubt Charles passed along the edict that he requires an outrageously ostentatious meal, but the French “just knew” that was the right thing to do.

    I want to believe heads of state would be content eating the same meals that are served in the Olympic village.

    This is the worst form of consumerism, you just point to your nose and people scramble to pamper you with praise, favour and treats.

    What a truly wonderful way to outsource waste, without feeling any personal responsibility towards the consequences of your lifestyle.

    • trolololol@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      And that’s to please a king, so it’s not like a political favor. Macron is getting nothing out of this.

      • targetx@programming.devEnglish
        0·
        4 months ago

        I don’t think it works that way… on paper it sure looks the way you said but I’m 99% sure there’s all sorts of gentlemen agreements and other back channel stuff going on there.

  • Pumpkin Escobar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    I guess this solves part of the mystery about why the French rioted when they raised the retirement age last year

  • Pooptimist@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    A few hundred years ago they chopped heads off of kings and queens for spending too much on everything, and now they do it for them

    • filtoid@lemmy.mlEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

      (The more things change, the more they stay the same)

  • ieatpwns@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    Why didn’t the king foot the bill he’s the king and he’s rich.

    Let the heads roll.

  • hark@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    Then the rich act shocked and appalled when people talk about a violent uprising.