名人談世博：法國(guó)前總理拉法蘭的世博緣

2005年，時(shí)任法國(guó)總理讓-皮埃爾·拉法蘭，代表法國(guó)第一個(gè)確認(rèn)參展上海世博會(huì)；2010年1月20日，這位法國(guó)前總理來(lái)到上海，行程中世博元素?zé)o處不在。作為中國(guó)的老朋友，他微笑著和大家說(shuō)：“請(qǐng)關(guān)注我的博客https://www.carnetjpr.com/，期待我的世博博文！”
讓-皮埃爾·拉法蘭自1976年以來(lái)定期訪問(wèn)中國(guó)，即使在2003年“非典”盛行期間，他本人和法國(guó)政府也為上海世博會(huì)做了很多推介工作。“我希望上海世博會(huì)法國(guó)館能促進(jìn)法中兩國(guó)長(zhǎng)期持續(xù)的藝術(shù)交流。”在他看來(lái)，法中關(guān)系不僅僅是政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)的交流與合作，也是文化層面的。

20日下午，拉法蘭到訪上海世博局。在上海世博局副局長(zhǎng)胡勁軍的陪同下，拉法蘭一行參觀了位于世博大廈一樓的世博會(huì)規(guī)劃展示廳，詳細(xì)了解了世博會(huì)歷史、上海世博會(huì)籌辦進(jìn)展等情況。隨后，拉法蘭一行登上世博大廈頂樓觀景平臺(tái)，俯瞰世博園區(qū)全景。而這次來(lái)訪，只是一個(gè)預(yù)熱。“我今年還會(huì)再次來(lái)到上海，來(lái)到世博園區(qū)，見(jiàn)證這一重要的盛會(huì)。”他告訴記者，法國(guó)大報(bào)費(fèi)加羅報(bào)已經(jīng)發(fā)起關(guān)注上海世博會(huì)的號(hào)召，在6月更將組織讀者代表團(tuán)來(lái)上海參觀世博園區(qū)。

對(duì)上海世博會(huì)感興趣的可不止法國(guó)媒體，拉法蘭透露，近年來(lái)隨著漢語(yǔ)熱在法國(guó)的興起，法國(guó)的一些中學(xué)正在積極籌備一次世博之旅，讓孩子們可以邊學(xué)中文邊逛園區(qū)，看得出，他很喜歡這個(gè)想法。

“我的外孫馬丁在巴黎幼兒園的園長(zhǎng)給我寫信，說(shuō)他們開(kāi)始提供孩子們學(xué)中文的機(jī)會(huì)了，”他眨了眨眼睛，笑瞇瞇地告訴大家。

拉法蘭此次行程中還包括20日晚參加在上海世貿(mào)商城的巧克力沙龍，這一沙龍將向大家展示法國(guó)巧克力作坊的手藝，讓大家品嘗來(lái)自法國(guó)的巧克力。“巧克力的話題既是經(jīng)濟(jì)的話題，也是美食的話題；法中關(guān)系不僅僅是經(jīng)濟(jì)上的，也是一種文化交流，這也是我們希望通過(guò)法國(guó)館傳遞的信息。”

Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said today he hoped the France Pavilion would remain after the 2010 Expo to promote Sino-French long-term cultural exchanges.

Raffarin represented France to confirm the country's participation in the 2010 Expo in 2005, the first country to do so.

He invited Chinese people to visit his Blog at https://www.carnetjpr.com/, which has a Chinese version, at a press conference in Shanghai today, and said he would write stories about the Expo.

Sino-French ties are not only limited to political and economic fields, but culture as well, he said.

The former prime minister will visit the Expo site during the event. He told reporters that Le Figaro, a French daily newspaper, would organize a readers' group to the Expo site in June.

Some French schools are also preparing a similar visit to promote Chinese study for their students, he revealed.

France will celebrate its pavilion's national day by hosting a music festival.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to visit the 2010 World Expo site in the first half of this year, Raffarin said.