Mitterrand and Bush take the Mickey

PARIS (Reuter) - The former US President George Bush and his family have visited Euro Disneyland and lured the French President, Francois Mitterrand, to the theme park for the first time since it opened two years ago.

'We heard people say 'This really is fantasy world]' because they discovered President Mitterrand and President Bush walking through the crowd up this long street together,' Euro Disneyland's chairman, Philippe Bourguignon, said yesterday. For Euro Disneyland, President Mitterrand's presence was quite a coup. Like many of his countrymen, Mr Mitterrand, who has often defended France against perceived US cultural imperialism, had turned his nose up at Euro Disney. The President once commented sniffily that Euro Disneyland was 'not my cup of tea'.

Accompanied by his wife, Barbara, and their children and grandchildren, Mr Bush spent Monday afternoon touring the sprawling park north of Paris. The President arrived later by helicopter and joined Mr Bush for a stroll.

The President dined on lobster, sea bass and truffles with Mr and Mrs Bush in the Cinderella Inn restaurant at the foot of 'Sleeping Beauty's Castle', while the rest of the Bush family sat through 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show