Robert Kocharyan to Vacation in Paris

Maybe not a vacation per se, but not hard work, either!

Armenian President Robert Kocharian is departing to France on a 4-day formal visit on February 17. In Paris the Armenian leader will meet with French President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Senate President Christian Poncelet and National Assembly Speaker Jean-Louis Debre.

The Armenian President and the first lady will be present at the "Charles Aznavour and Friends" concert to take place in the Opera Garnier in the framework of the Year of Armenia in France. They will also attend an exhibition of outstanding painter of sea-scapes Ivan Ayvazovsky in the Navy Museum and an exhibition titled "12 capital cities of Armenia".

In Lourve the Armenian and French President will open "Saint Armenia" exhibition. The RA leader is also expected to meet with the Armenian community and take part in the opening ceremony of Armenia Garden in Nice...

So which part of the above requires hard work? Maybe it's all the walking he'll be doing at the Louvre.

Source: Yerkir

Jacques Chirac Awards "Legion of Honor" to French Armenians

A bit of old news, but it was barely reported at all. Two weeks isn't so much, is it?

On New Year's Eve, French President Jacques Chirac awarded the Légion d'Honneur to several French-Armenians. They include Serge Samvelian from the French Ministry of Culture, Sophie Devejan from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of France, Bodom Kjovjan and Armen Petrosyan, entrepreneur.

So what exactly is this award? From Wikipedia:

The Légion d'honneur...is a French order established by Napoléon Bonaparte, First Consul of the First Republic, on May 19, 1802. It is the premier order of France, and its award is therefore considered a great distinction.

Interesting! It sounds like it is similar to the English knighthood. May Armenians the world over continue their great work!

Sources:
Yerevan.ru (translated)
Légion d'honneur on Wikipedia