From court to couture: Jill Biden flies 3,500 miles to join fashionable French first lady Brigitte Macron at a Louis Vuitton exhibit - but refuses to comment on Hunter's bombshell trial
- Jill Biden has been boomeranging between France and Wilmington, Del.
- READ MORE: Jill watches granddaughter Naomi testify in Hunter trial
Jill Biden traveled 3,500 miles overnight to join President Joe Biden for a state visit in Paris but refused to talk about the Hunter Biden trial she had just left.
The first lady didn't comment when asked how she was feeling after undertaking three transatlantic flights in the past three days. She has been boomeranging between France and Wilmington, Del., where her son Hunter Biden is on trial for federal gun charges.
She and French first lady Brigitte Macron toured an art exhibit at the Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris, going from the courtroom to couture.
As they posed for a photo, Biden commented that the room was 'so quiet' but then refused to answer any questions.
The first lady had arrived in Paris around 6 am on Saturday morning, after watching her eldest granddaughter, Naomi Biden, get ambushed on the witness stand as she testified about her dad Hunter.
Biden, wearing a pink dress with a black belt, was energic and asked several questions about the art during the tour. At one point she and Macron laughed and held hands as they chatted about the art.
The first lady has undertaken the 3,741 miles flight three times in three days – changing time zones too – in order to balance her family needs with being First Lady.
Jill Biden and Brigette Macron toured the Foundation Louis Vuitton
President Emmanuel Macron greets President Joe Biden for his state visit in Paris on Saturday, with first ladies Brigitte Macron and Jill Biden
Biden has been steadfast in her support of Hunter, spending four days at the courthouse this week, including her birthday on Monday.
The only thing that her kept her away was her official first lady duties in France.
She and Macron spent had lunch and then spent about 30 minutes touring the art museum and cultural center on the outskirts of Paris that is sponsored by the group LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton. The French first lady often wears their clothing.
While not 'super close,' as one source close to them said, the two first ladies have a lot in common: they are both teachers, they both love literature and words. And they both enjoy a nice glass of wine.
'They are not super close - they met only two or three times but it always went well,' a source said.
They bonded in Italy over a glass of wine and then during a visit to the Planet Word Museum in Washington D.C. when the Macrons made a state visit in December 2022.
President Biden will clock five days in France once the visit ends on Sunday, spending two days on the beaches at Normandy and the rest of his time in Paris.
Jill Biden spent Thursday in France with her husband to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. She and Brigitte were together there when the Macrons joined the Bidens at the American Cemetery to honor the D-Day veterans.
Her schedule this week has been a whirl wind.
She flew to France on Wednesday night to be with be husband (the president flew over on Air Force One on Tuesday) and left after Thursday's festivities concluded so she could spend Friday in the courtroom. She boarded her flight to Paris on Friday night, arriving early Saturday.
She flies via a government jet.
Saturday marks the official state portion of President Biden's visit to France. First ladies are essential parts of these visits, which are highly ceremonial and symbolic. The women are dissected for the clothes they wear and the event they choose to do and how they act together.
Jill Biden and Brigitte Macron had lunch at the museum before their tour
Jill Biden has been boomeranging back and forth between Wilmington, Del., and France
Naomi Biden testified on her father's behalf on Friday
Despite the language barrier – neither woman speaks the other's – Jill, 73, and Brigitte, 71, have forged a bond.
'We instantly, you know, knew that we liked each other,' Biden said of Macron in December 2022 during the French couple's state visit.
In addition to be language teachers - Biden teaches English and Macron taught French - both women have emphasized they have lives outside their political marriage.
'We're women, we had a life before [becoming] first lady, and we stay what we are,' Macron said at that time as Jill Biden nodded in agreement.
And they have paved the way for their husbands to bond when the U.S. and France had a diplomatic dispute.
In 2021, President Macron was outraged when Australia decided to buy nuclear subs from the United States, reneging on a deal with the French. Macron was blindsided by Australia's decision, which it made to join a U.S. and UK security pact. He recalled his ambassador from Washington D.C. back to Paris.
The two heads of states eventually managed to patch up their differences, holding a one-on-one meeting at the G20 in Italy in October 2021.
The two first ladies laughed and held hands during the tour
Jill Biden had a glass of wine with Brigitte Macron at Il Marchese bar at the G20 in 2021
Jill Biden and Brigitte Macron hold hands during a visit to the Planet Word Museum in Washington DC in December 2022
Jill and Brigitte did their part to help repair relations. They went out together for a glass of wine at Il Marchese, a restaurant in Rome, ahead of their husbands' sit down.
The two women sipped Chardonnay and ate small bites.
Afterward, Biden said the time spent together was 'wonderful.'
'It's nice, two friends together, just like sisters,' she said.
