France's President Emmanuel Macron attends the Armistice Day ceremonies marking the end of World War I, in Paris, France, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool)
November 11, 2017 - 4:46 AM
PARIS - Emmanuel Macron cut a solemn figure on Paris' Champs-Elysees as he commemorated his first Armistice Day as French president — marking the end of combat during World War I.
During Saturday's events, Macron paid homage to the wartime French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau by laying a wreath at his statue on the famed avenue. Clemenceau was a key architect of peace between the great powers.
Macron then inspected the troops and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe.
Former French Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande also attended the ceremony, which attracted crowds despite the drizzle.
Next year France will host a grand Armistice centenary, marking 100 years since the war's end in 1918 with envoys from 80 nations.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017