At the General's table, whether at La Boisserie or the Élysée, the meal follows the classic order of the provincial bourgeoisie: a soup or simple starter, a single slow-cooked main dish with its accompaniment, then the cheese platter, a family dessert, and finally coffee. No ostentation: a clean tablecloth, good wine in moderation, and local products. This is a table of sobriety and restraint, in the image of the man himself.

De Gaulle famously compared the ungovernability of France to the dizzying number of its cheeses. The cheese platter is no detail at his table: it is an emblem of the French diversity he cherished. Alongside the long-simmered broth of pot-au-feu, it embodies this cuisine of waiting and patience, opposed to all frivolity.