President Francois Hollande has been accused of selling off France's national heritage with an auction of hundreds of bottles of fine wine from the cellars of the Elysee Palace, reports FRANCE 24.
A total of 1,200 bottles, including some of the world's most prestigious labels, were due to go under the hammer from Thursday evening in a sale that has become symbolic of the cash-strapped government's austerity drive.
Officially, the purpose of the auction is to liberate funds to rejuvenate the presidential collection but officials have also stressed that the proceeds will be invested in more modest replacements and that any surplus will be ploughed back into government coffers.
The conspicuous cost-cutting is in keeping with the tone of Hollande's presidency, which has been clouded by a gloomy economic backdrop.
But it has not gone down well with Michel-Jack Chasseuil, one of France's most prominent wine collectors.
Chasseuil has written to Hollande to express his regret over the decision to allow bottles "that are part of the heritage of our country to be sold off to billionaires from all over the world".
Read more of this AFP report published by FRANCE 24.