Today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the visit to San Francisco by the acting French president at the time, Francois Mitterrand and Danielle Mitterrand, his wife. The couple came in to town a day in advance of more formal functions – namely a gala to be held in their honor at the landmark, Palace of the Legion of Honor, and filled their day of leisure as they pleased. Possibly as a byproduct of his living in Paris - one of the prettiest and most walk-able cities in Europe - President Mitterrand enjoyed strolling around for himself. Since parallels could easily be drawn with San Francisco as a comparably beautiful walking city, it was not that surprising to discover President Mitterrand had planned some San Francisco tours for himself during his visit.
The president and his wife walked through North Beach and Chinatown, dipping into whichever shops piqued their interests along a wandering route. Their entourage overwhelmed most of the small shops in which they stopped, not merely as a result of the surprise of having an international figure such as a sitting French president pop in, but also due to the fact that President Mitterrand had a gaggle of security guards along for self-guided San Francisco tour and so many went in the stores with him that they were at capacity wherever they went.
Just after ten o’clock that evening, the president and his wife went on another stroll. Once all of the San Francisco tours had finished emptying their busloads of tourists at the Coit Tower for the day, the French president and his wife strode up the hill to enjoy the city’s night vistas from the tower. While it would seem unthinkable today, the president and his wife then caught a taxi from there down to have seafood at Scott's Seafood Grill & Bar, at Lombard and Scott Street in the Marina neighborhood. The restaurant had no idea that they were coming; they had merely gotten a call ten minutes in advance. Upon their arrival the crowd that night gave the couple a warm welcome with some brief applause as they made their way to their table. And while they were at the back door to Northern California’s wine country the restaurant eschewed bringing out their best offerings from Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley, but instead made the couple feel at home with a bottle of French Champagne from Domaine Chandon.
