French President Francois Hollande
...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist...
presided over a somber ceremony to honor the 17 victims of the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo
...
A lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...office and a Jewish supermarket last January, as well as the 130 victims of the coordinated massacre in November.
There was heavy security around the Place de la Republique on Sunday as Hollande and the mayor of Gay Paree, Anne Hidalgo, laid a wreath and unveiled a commemorative plaque near a newly planted oak tree. The Place de la Republique, a vast square in eastern Gay Paree, has become an informal memorial and a rallying point for free speech and democratic values after the attacks. Candles, flowers and pictures of the victims lined the base of the Marianne statue, a symbol of the French republic.
The French army choir performed, and rock legend Johnny Hallyday sang "Un Dimanche de Janvier" ("A Sunday in January") -- a song referring to the march on January 11 last year, in which more than 1 million people joined world leaders to march in solidarity.