Hidden underground world below Elysee Palace put on view

The French presidential wine cellar holds 14,000 bottles regarded as so precious, few people are allowed to enter the room. Flower bouquets are displayed at the presidential palace only for a couple of hours so they always look fresh. And the president's chefs use 150-year-old copper pans.
These and other behind-the-scenes quirks of the Elysee Palace are getting a rare airing this weekend, when the home of French presidents since 1848 opens its heavy and usually tightly closed doors to a small, but lucky group of ordinary citizens. On Saturday and Sunday, a few hundred people were visiting the underground kitchen, cellar and florist rooms.
They were able to buy souvenirs from a new boutique to help finance palace renovations expected to cost $117 million over the next seven years. Across France, other usually closed sites are also opening their doors for the weekend as part of European Heritage Days.
Under President Emmanuel Macron's office and the Elysee's 18th-century golden reception rooms is an underground world where a small battalion of workers makes the whole place tick. They labour out of sight in a maze of austere corridors and narrow rooms with artificial light and gray and beige walls.
Every morning, the basement comes to life when fresh produce, fish and meats are delivered to the kitchen and checked for quality. Most of the food - except items like coffee and chocolate - is sourced in France.
The kitchen staff of 28 people, plus apprentices, serves 92,000-95,000 meals per year. They cook daily for Macron and his wife Brigitte and for some Elysee employees, and handle official dinners, big events like receptions at the Chateau of Versailles west of Paris and prepare in-flight meals for the presidential plane.
Presidential tastes and menus remain one of the best kept secrets of the Elysee.
Chef Guillaume Gomez wouldn't answer questions about the Macrons' meals. The French leader once said his favourite dish is blanquette de veau, a traditional veal stew in creamy white sauce.
"Unlike a restaurant, we work on a daily basis with the seasons, the activity and news events of the president," he said.