GREECE TRAVELING TALL THE GLORY THAT IS GREECE LAST WEEK PLAYED HOST 
TO THE GRANDEUR THAT IS CHARLES DE GAULLE . FRENCH SURETE 
AGENTS FLEW IN AHEAD OF TIME TO GO OVER THE DOSSIERS 
OF RESIDENT FOREIGNERS AND EYE NEW ARRIVALS AT HELLENIKON AIRPORT . 
GREEK ARMY ENGINEERS PROWLED THE SEWERS OF ATHENS, SEARCHING FOR HIDDEN 
BOMBS ; GREY-UNIFORMED COPS STOOD GUARD 25 YARDS APART ALONG THE 
EIGHT-MILE PARADE ROUTE . EMOTIONALLY, A RETIRED GREEK GENERAL ANNOUNCED THAT 
HE WAS PERSONALLY READY TO SLASH HIS WRISTS TO GIVE BLOOD, 
IF DE GAULLE WERE SHOT . MORE PRUDENTLY, GREECE'S PREMIER CONSTANTINE 
KARAMANLIS HAD HIS OWN BLOOD TYPED, IN CASE HE GOT IN 
THE WAY OF ANY SHOOTING . DRIFTING SMOKE . IN THE 
EVENT, THE PRECAUTIONS SEEMED EXCESSIVE . DE GAULLE ARRIVED PROMPTLY AT 
NOON IN HIS BLUE-ANDWHITE CARAVELLE JET AIRLINER, INSPECTED AN HONOR GUARD 
AS CANNON SMOKE FROM THE 21-GUN SALUTE DRIFTED INTO HIS FACE, 
THEN CLIMBED INTO A ROLLS-ROYCE CONVERTIBLE WITH GREECE'S TALL KING PAUL 
. AS THE MOTORCADE REACHED THE CITY LIMITS, DE GAULLE JUMPED 
TO HIS FEET, WAVED THEATRICALLY TO THE ATHENIANS GATHERED UNDER THE 
PEPPER TREES . AT HADRIAN'S ARCH, NEAR THE TEMPLE OF OLYMPIAN 
ZEUS, HE SAID WITH FEELING : " NO FRENCHMAN, ESPECIALLY MYSELF, 
COULD FAIL TO BE MOVED BY THIS CITY, NOR FORGET WHAT 
HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED HERE FOR LIBERTY IN 3,000 YEARS . " 
THEN HE PLUNGED NEARSIGHTEDLY INTO THE CURBSIDE CROWD TO SHAKE HANDS 
A PROCEDURE THAT GIVES HIS SECURITY GUARDS PERPETUAL JITTERS . BUT 
THE CHANCE OF A POTSHOT AT DE GAULLE WAS NOT THE 
ONLY WORRY OF GREEK LEADERS . THE GOVERNMENT WAS ALSO UNEASY 
THAT DE GAULLE MIGHT TRY TO EMBROIL GREECE IN HIS QUARREL 
WITH BRITAIN OVER THE COMMON MARKET, AND WITH THE U.S . 
OVER NATO DEFENSE . IT WAS FRANCE, NOT GREECE, WHICH HAD 
PUSHED THE TRIP . DE GAULLE HAD PICKED UP AN INVITATION 
MADE SEVEN YEARS BEFORE TO THEN PRESIDENT RENE COTY . PARIS 
ALSO SUGGESTED THAT THE FRENCH FLEET DROP ANCHOR IN THE PIRAEUS 
TO COINCIDE WITH DE GAULLE'S ARRIVAL, AND DISCREETLY BROACHED THE PLAN 
OF HAVING DE GAULLE ADDRESS THE GREEK PUBLIC, AS HE HAD 
DONE WITH SUCH SUCCESS DURING HIS GERMAN TOUR LAST YEAR . 
WHEN GREEK REACTION TO BOTH IDEAS WAS COOL, THEY WERE ABANDONED 
. THE HINGE . NEVERTHELESS, GREECE WAS IN A MOOD TO 
BE WOOED BY LE GRAND CHARLES . ATHENS OFFICIALS WERE SHOCKED 
LAST SUMMER, WHEN THE $20 MILLION ANNUAL U.S . DEFENSE AND 
ECONOMIC AID WAS ABRUPTLY CUT OFF ON THE THEORY THAT THE 
GREEK ECONOMY NO LONGER NEEDED IT . DE GAULLE IS SAID 
TO BE PREPARED TO CLIMAX HIS VISIT WITH AN OFFER OF 
A $10 MILLION DEVELOPMENT LOAN ; FRENCH INVESTMENTS IN GREECE ALREADY 
TOTAL $60X MILLION AND ARE SECOND ONLY TO U.S . INVESTMENT 
. AT A PALACE BANQUET, DE GAULLE MADE CLEAR IN A 
TOAST TO KING PAUL THAT HE HOPES TO EXTEND FRANCE'S INFLUENCE 
FROM THE " NORTHERN SEAS, " WHICH HE CALLED ONE OF 
FRANCE'S BOUNDARIES, TO THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, WHERE, HE POINTED OUT, GREECE 
IS THE " HINGE BETWEEN THE LATIN AND SLAVIC WORLDS, AS 
WELL AS BETWEEN WESTERN EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST . " 
THESE WORDS, AND DE GAULLE'S WOOING MANNER, SET DIPLOMATS EVERYWHERE TO 
A FRESH STUDY OF HIS UPCOMING AMBITIOUS TRAVEL PLANS : IN 
OCTOBER, CHARLES DE GAULLE, 72, IS SCHEDULED TO VISIT IRAN AND 
HE IS CONSIDERING LATER TRIPS TO JAPAN, SOUTH AMERICA, NORTH AFRICA, 
AND THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT NATIONS OF BLACK AFRICA . " TODAY, 
FRANCE, " MURMURED ONE DAZZLED OBSERVER . " TOMORROW THE WORLD 
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