Royal bloom: Paris flower market renamed to mark Queen’s visit

Paris says it with flowers. To mark what might be Queen Elizabeth II’s last visit to France, the City of Light has named a flower market in her honour. The British monarch visited the Marche aux Fleurs, a site that’s been selling sweet-scented blossoms for over 200 years, for the tribute on Saturday. She was accompanied by French President Francois Hollande as she toured the market that has been renamed Marche aux Fleurs — Reine Elizabeth II.

Our peace and prosperity can never be taken for granted and must constantly be tended, so that never again do we have cause to build monuments to our fallen youth.

—Queen Elizabeth II, speaking at a French D-Day banquet on Friday

The queen smiled, though her new namesake lies close by the prison where the French queen, Marie Antoinette, was confined while awaiting the guillotine. Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, 92, have sharply cut back their foreign travels, but made an exception for the three-day state visit for the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Earlier in the day, the Queen visited Paris’ City Hall where she was welcomed by mayor Anne Hidalgo and hundreds of well-wishers who lined the streets outside.

Sources

Royal bloom: France marks Queen visit with flowers ~ Associated Press

Royal bloom: France marks Queen state visit, says it with flowers ~ The Canadian Press

World Queen Elizabeth II