AN UNUSUALLY intimate portrait of Jacques Chirac as a tender, loving father — rather than the stubborn, beleaguered politician of recent weeks — has been presented to the French in a rare interview by his “third daughter”.
Anh Dao Traxel, 47, is a former Vietnamese refugee whom M Chirac informally adopted in 1979 when he was Mayor of Paris. She spent two years with the Chiracs and is still considered one of the family. She expresses great affection for the French President, who she predicts will defy expectations and fight for a third term in 2007.
“He has not said his last word. When he falls, he always gets up,” Mme Dao said when asked about the recent humiliations that have left the President at