‘Vive le Président! Here’s hoping that Chirac doesn’t want a different bike!’ On 9 May 1995, two days after Jacques Chirac is elected President of the French Republic, German cartoonist Hans-Jürgen Starke paints an ironic picture of the future of the Franco-German tandem. As his new partner takes to the stage, Chancellor Helmut Kohl speculates on the new President’s desire to pursue Franco-German cooperation in the area of European integration.