French fashion designer Julien Fournie (R) poses with his Czech model Michaela Tomanova during the shooting of a film designed in place of the fashion show on June 30, 2020 as France eases lockdown measures taken to curb the spread of the COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus. (Photo by Franck Fife/AFP Photo)

French model Iris Mittenaere attends the screening of “Final Cut (Coupez!)” and opening ceremony red carpet for the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2022 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Stephane Mahe/Reuters)

French actress Pom Klementieff (L), Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman (C) and US actress Tessa Thompson pose on the red carpet on arrival to attend the UK Gala Screening of the film “Thor: Love and Thunder”, at the Odeon Luxe in London on July 5, 2022. (Photo by Daniel Leal/AFP Photo)

French fashion model Cindy Bruna walks the runway of the Julien x Gabriela AW23 show during London Fashion Week at Freemasons Hall on February 19, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Julien MacDonald)

Lyon's Ghanaian forward #37 Ernest Nuamah celebrates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Olympique Lyonnais (OL) and Stade de Reims at The Groupama Stadium in Decines-Charpieu, central-eastern France on March 30, 2024. (Photo by Olivier Chassignole/AFP Photo)

Wolfgang (L), member of World War One historical association “Darstellungsgruppe Suddeutsches Militar 1870-1918” (DSM 18), from Munich, Germany, and Florent, member of French association “Le Poilu de la Marne”, dressed in vintage army uniforms, visit the Bezonvaux bunker in the national forest of Verdun, eastern France, March 29, 2014. Members of French and German historical associations, who gather annually, together visited the battlefield of Verdun in France, the site of a bloody World War One battle that dragged on for around 10 months in 1916, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives and destroying many villages. (Photo by Charles Platiau/Reuters)

A giant chrome brushed aluminium skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus (T-Rex) dinosaur , made by French sculptor and painter Philippe Pasqua, stands at the pier of riverboat company Bateaux-Mouches in Paris, with the Eiffel tower in the background.

When a French politician remarked that a monument should be raised in honour of American independence at a dinner party in 1865 he probably didn't imagine that the result would become an international icon of freedom. ...