WESTERN EUROPE THE UNVISIT ARRIVING IN BONN JUST 13 DAYS AFTER PRESIDENT 
KENNEDY'S TRIUMPHANT VISIT, CHARLES DE GAULLE MADE NO EFFORT TO ENTER 
A POPULARITY CONTEST . BOTH FRENCH AND GERMANS LEGITIMATELY EMPHASIZED THAT 
THE TWO-DAY TRIP WAS ONLY A " WORKING VISIT " AS 
STIPULATED BY THE BRAND-NEW FRANCO-GERMAN FRIENDSHIP TREATY . AS FAR AS 
PROTOCOL AND THE PUBLIC WERE CONCERNED, IT WAS EVEN A KIND 
OF UNVISIT NO PARADES, NO CROWDS . THE BONN PRESS PREDICTED 
THAT DE GAULLE WOULD TRY TO WHIP THE GERMANS INTO LINE 
IN CASE THEY HAD GOT TOO FRIENDLY TOWARD THE U.S . 
HE WAS NOT AS CRUDE AS THAT . BUT HE HAD 
BEEN STUNG BY KENNEDY'S FRANKFURT SPEECH ABOUT ATLANTIC UNITY (ALTHOUGH DISMISSING 
IT AS " SALADE, SALADE, SALADE " ), AND DE GAULLE 
OBVIOUSLY WANTED TO FIND OUT IN BONN IF THE GERMANS HAD 
BEEN SUFFICIENTLY IMPRESSED BY IT TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE FRANCO-GERMAN 
ALLIANCE . ANSWER : THE GERMANS WERE JUST ABOUT STANDING STILL 
. THEY CHIDED DE GAULLE AND HIS TOP MINISTERS FOR THE 
ANNOUNCED WITHDRAWAL OF FRENCH NAVAL UNITS FROM THE NATO FLEET BUT 
DID NOT PRESS HIM ON THE QUESTION OF BRITAIN'S EVENTUAL ADMISSION 
TO THE COMMON MARKET . THERE WAS SOME HAGGLING ON AGRICULTURE 
; BECAUSE OF A PRICE-DEPRESSING AGRICULTURAL SURPLUS, WHICH CAUSED FARM RIOTS 
IN SOUTHERN FRANCE LAST WEEK, THE FRENCH HAD JUST CLOSED THEIR 
BORDERS TO IMPORTS OF TOMATOES AND APRICOTS, WITHOUT NOTIFYING THE COMMON 
MARKET . THE ONLY REALLY SUBSTANTIVE AGREEMENT : A MASSIVE YOUTH 
EXCHANGE PROGRAM . AMONG OTHER THINGS, DE GAULLE WANTED TO GET 
TO KNOW VICE CHANCELLOR LUDWIG ERHARD, THE MAN WHO WILL TAKE 
OVER FROM KONRAD ADENAUER NEXT FALL . THEY HAD AN HOUR'S 
" FRIENDLY / ACTUALLY, THEY TALKED PAST EACH OTHER . DE 
GAULLE KEPT STRESSING THE MYSTIQUE OF EUROPE, WHILE ERHARD TRIED TO 
TALK ECONOMICS BUT FOUND THAT THE GENERAL WAS AS LITTLE INTERESTED 
IN SUCH MATTERS AS THE CHANCELLOR. AS FOR THE FRANCO-GERMAN TREATY, 
DE GAULLE MANAGED TO SOUND BOTH HOPEFUL AND CASUAL . " 
TREATIES, " HE SAID WITH A SHRUG, " ARE LIKE ROSES 
AND YOUNG GIRLS . THEY LAST WHILE THEY LAST . / 
