The Les Essarts family estate, bought in 1920 by the maternal grandparents of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, sits on a bluff over the sea in Saint Briac, Brittany, Wednesday March 24, 2004. (AP Photo/Franck Prevel)
Posted on 03/31/2004 12:27:26 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
SAINT-BRIAC-SUR-MER, France -- John Kerry's relatives in France bristle at jabs from across the Atlantic that the presidential contender has a French connection.
They say Kerry has no link to France other than the home his grandparents bought here.
''John Kerry is incredibly American,'' says Brice Lalonde, Kerry's cousin and mayor of this seaside Brittany village. ''He has absolutely nothing French about him.''
For another cousin, Christopher Curtis: ''John is an all-American guy with the benefit of having spent some time overseas.''
With the race for the White House turning nasty -- and France-U.S. ties not quite mended from the Iraq war -- Kerry's Gallic clan, when questioned, talks up his American-ness. Some are keeping a low profile, saying too much talk about France could be political arsenic.
As Lalonde, 58, puts it: ''I'm afraid to hurt him.''
But that hasn't stopped the Frenchman from pasting Kerry bumper stickers on his car.
Saint Briac is a place of rugged seascapes and cobbled lanes that inspired Renoir and other Impressionists. It was here the Massachusetts senator spent boyhood summers.
But nowhere on Kerry's Web site does he mention his summers in France or the family estate, known as Les Essarts, a sprawling property on a bluff over the sea.
''Monsieur Bush is angry with France,'' says Ian Forbes, an 85-year-old Kerry uncle who lives at Les Essarts. ''We don't want to accentuate the connection between Johnny and France.''
Kerry's maternal grandparents, James Grant Forbes and Margaret Winthrop, bought the estate in the 1920s. They had 11 children, including the mothers of Kerry, Lalonde and Curtis, a British American who lives in Paris. The home served as a summer hub for their cosmopolitan clan.
In his youth, Kerry joined the family gatherings while his father, a U.S. diplomat, was posted in Europe. Young Kerry also attended a Swiss boarding school and brought a touch of America to this corner of northwestern France.
''He introduced us to games like capture the flag. We still play something called kick the can,'' said Lalonde. AP
Hell, we all played Kick the Can 65 years ago. Where have you been?
In our version (maybe not the standard) we played it on a simulated "baseball field". Instead of having a ball pitched to you, a tin can was placed on home-plate and you kicked it and ran.
A simulated baseball field could be established on a city street.
LOL! I bet you're right! Ha ha ha.
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