‘Chez Charles. “Of course I only love you, you, you — but you still have some amends to make, my dear!”’ On 12 September 1959, German cartoonist Manfred Oesterle illustrates the slow process of rapprochement between France and West Germany. A young, beautiful Marianne, the allegorical figure of France, wearing the Phrygian cap decorated with a cockade, is charming the old Chancellor Adenauer, who has invited her to his table, while President de Gaulle, dressed as a waiter, discreetly hands over the ‘French’ bill. Despite the establishment of closer relations between the two leaders, the divisions and wounds from the Second World War still run deep on the French side.