Paris, June 29: Complete with new gray hairs and two
fake bodyguards, a wax version of President Barack Obama took
a trip on Monday to the Eiffel Tower.
After visiting France's most famous monument, the statue
traveled to Paris' Musee Grevin wax museum, where it will
stand alongside the likenesses of Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela
Merkel and Vladimir Putin.
Sculptor Eric Saint Chaffray had never seen Obama in
person. "The main difficulty is making it without meeting him,
from press photos," he said as the statue was unveiled today.
The hot summer sun at the Eiffel Tower threatened to melt the
fake president's face, prompting helpers to shade him with an
umbrella.
Saint Chaffray has been creating wax statues for the
museum for the past 20 years, and has worked on American
presidents in the past.
Dressed in a dark suit, the wax statue of Obama looked
very serious. "We're presenting Barack Obama at the Musee
Grevin as part of a gathering of heads of state, which is why
he has kind of an official attitude, a little bit stiff,"
Saint Chaffray said.
The resemblance was so uncanny -- down to the gray hair
Obama is said to have acquired since the beginning of his
presidential campaign -- that some tourists stopped for a
photo opportunity.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, June 29, 2009, 20:43