Before going to Aix, Gelb stopped in Basel to meet with the Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, best known for their conversion of the Bankside power station, in London, into the Tate Modern.

NEWYORKER: Man Behind the Curtain

For his scripts, Pierre turned to Jacques, whose talents in this field were soon in demand.

ECONOMIST: Literary biography

In France, the newly elected right-wing government, with Jean-Pierre Raffarin as prime minister under President Jacques Chirac, has more privatisation options than most.

ECONOMIST: Privatisation in Europe

France's President Jacques Chirac has already pushed his prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin , to fall on his own sword, replacing him with the loyal and statist Dominique de Villepin .

FORBES: Whither A United Europe?