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Twelve years ago, the Berlin wall was still standing, the red flag was still floating over the Kremlin, François Mitterrand was the president of the French Republic, Saddam Hussein was a good friend of the United States and there was already a George Bush in the White House. That was the summer of 1989, when I arrived in Washington D.C. to become the new correspondent of the French radio network RTL.

My first story was about the 20th anniversary of the Woodstock music festival, upstate New York. At that time, I didn't realize I was going to stay in the United States for such a duration. After the Gulf War, I left Washington, moving to New York where I found a great apartment in the West Village with a magnificient view of the city skyline.

In all these years, I have traveled extensively around the country, touching upon all 50 states. I have covered 3 presidential elections (including several primaries and 6 political conventions) and 2 major earthquakes (in San Francisco and Los Angeles).

I have walked 11 times on the red carpet of the Academy Awards where have met Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington, Oliver Stone, Roberto Begnigni, Juliette Binoche and a few other people of that kind. I have been witness to the riots of Los Angeles in 1992.

I have stood in the Oval Office 4 times. I have met Bill and Hillary Clinton and even George W. Bush when he was still a candidate campaigning in the snowy countryside of New Hampshire. I have also met Monica Lewinsky but only because she moved to New York and, as neighbours, we were sharing the same supermarket.

I have known 4 French Ambassadors in Washington, 4 French Ambassadors to the United Nations and 4 French Consuls in New York. I have been invited to many cocktails and openings but, in this category, my best memory will remain the "Yves Saint-Laurent" party on Liberty Island, on a mild september night, under the protective gaze of the Statue of Liberty bathed in moonlight.

I have watched television way too much and I have been interviewed 6 times by CNN, 3 times by PBS on the "Jim Lehrer Newshour", 5 times by FoxNews (including once on the "O'Reilly Factor" and two other times as a specialist of the Alma Tunnel in Paris where Princess Diana met her fate) and once by "Current Affair" where I became an instant expert on French castles at the time when Michael Jackson was thinking purchasing his own. And I have eaten, "live" on the air, a Philadelphia "Cheesesteak" to give a French point of view about this local delicacy to the listeners of NPR.

I have seen Boris Yeltsin very drunk one morning, very early, in Baltimore. I have visited a couple of mansions in Beverly Hills but also the slums of the Mississipi Delta. I have seen the desolate Indian reservations in North Dakota. I visited a city in Arizona where only senior citizens but no children are allowed to live. I have seen a few prisons and an execution chamber.

Al Gore might have invented the Internet but I witnessed its emergence. I went to Cape Canaveral to cover the launch of a NASA space shuttle. I covered the US Tennis open once at Flushing Meadow. My editors in Paris insisted I never do it again.

My coverage of the Pope's visit to Cuba was cut short. I had already arrived in Havana I but was summuned to return to the States, like many of my colleagues, because Bill Clinton was having a good time with an intern.

I was scheduled to cover the summer Olympic Games in 1996. But, days before, a TWA Boeing 747 (flight 800) exploded over the Atlantic near Long Island and I had to promptly return to New York to cover the aftermath of the tragedy.

I also remember a certain Saturday morning, a few years later, when a much smaller plane disappeared in the same area. The pilot was John Kennedy Junior. Before that, I remember that I did a first live report on the death of Jackie Kennedy Onassis from a pay phone in Manhattan. I also went to Dallas, Texas for the 30th anniversary of JFK's assassination.

I went to Littleton, Colorado after the shooting at the Columbine high school and I covered the NRA convention in Denver, a few miles from Littleton.

I have spent several days in Little Havana in Miami, in front of the small house where the Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez was staying, surrounded by hundreds of cameras, microphones and reporters.

I have spent only 50 minutes with Woody Allen but many long hours at the United Nations, in front of the door of the Security Council, waiting for the text of a "resolution" that I have quickly forgotten.

I have filed about 8000 stories, an average of 600 stories a year with two peaks : the Gulf War (1991, 1000 stories) and Monica Lewinsky (1999, 800 stories).

I have numerous good memories but I cannot choose one. My worst memory is probably the AIDS conference in San Francisco in 1990, a week of anger, suffering and dispair because of the pervasive feeling of hopeless desperation.

The conclusion is here : I did my last trip as a U.S. correspondent in June 2001. I went to Los Angeles to cover the municipal election because an Hispanic candidate could have won for the first time in more than a century. He lost. I flew back from the West coast, above the Grand Canyon, the vast plains, the Mid-West, this amazing and unfinished project called the United States of America. I love this country. It has changed my life.

I will not miss being called from Paris in the middle of the night to quickly write a story about Tiger Woods. But I will miss my bicycle adventures around Manhattan. I will miss New York a lot. And, of course, I will miss my friends here. They know who they are.

Now, I am returning home because there is an challenging opportunity for me over there. And also because after twelve years in America, I might have lost a bit of my objectivity.

This country and its people have to be seen, explored, explained, and embraced by a different perpective--someone who will be as naïve and enthousiast as I was when I arrived here, in the summer of 1989.

Il y a douze ans, le mur de Berlin était toujours debout, le drapeau rouge flottait encore au dessus du Kremlin, François Mitterrand était Président de la République Française, Saddam Hussein était un ami des Etats-Unis et il y avait déjà un George Bush à la Maison Blanche. C'était l'été 1989, lorsque je suis arrivé à Washington pour devenir le nouveau correspondant de RTL.

Le premier sujet que j'ai traité en arrivant, ce fut le 20ème anniversaire du festival de Woodstock. A l'époque, je n'imaginais pas que je resterai aussi longtemps aux Etats-Unis. Après la guerre du Golfe, j'ai quitté Washington pour m'installer à New York dans un superbe appartement du "West Village" avec une vue magnifique sur toute la ville.

Pendant toutes ces années, j'ai voyagé sans relâche à travers le pays, en visitant chacun des 50 états américains. J'ai couvert 3 campagnes présidentielles (y compris plusieurs primaires et 6 conventions) et deux gros tremblements de terre (à San Francisco et à Los Angeles).

J'ai foulé onze fois le tapis rouge des Oscars où j'ai rencontré Jodie Foster, Denzel Washington, Oliver Stone, Roberto Begnigni, Juliette Binoche et d'autres personnes de ce genre. J'ai été témoin des émeutes de Los Angeles en 1992.

J'ai mis les pieds 4 fois dans le bureau ovale de la Maison Blanche. J'ai rencontré Bill et Hillary Clinton et même George W. Bush lorsqu'il était encore en campagne dans les paysages enneigés du New Hampshire. J'ai aussi rencontré Monica Lewinsky mais seulement parce qu'elle a déménagé à New York et, en voisins, nous partagions le même supermarché.

J'ai connu 4 ambassadeurs français à Washington, 4 autres à l'ONU et 4 consuls généraux à New York. J'ai été invité à de nombreux cocktails et réceptions mais mon meilleur souvenir, dans ce domaine, restera la fête donnée par Yves Saint-Laurent sur l'ile de la Statue de la Liberté par une douce nuit de pleine lune en Septembre.

J'ai trop regardé la télévision et j'ai été interviewé 6 fois par CNN, 3 fois par la chaine publique PBS, 5 fois par FoxNews (dont deux fois en tant que spécialiste du tunnel de l'Alma à Paris où la princesse Diana venait de succomber) et une fois encore par l'émission "Current Affair" où je suis devenu l'expert instantané des chateaux français au moment où Michael Jackson songeait à en acquérir un. J'ai un jour mangé en direct un sandwich "Cheesesteak" afin de donner un avis de gastronome français sur cette spécialité locale de Philadelphie à l'intention des auditeurs de la radio NPR.

Un matin, très tôt, à Baltimore, j'ai vu Boris Yelstin très éméché. J'ai visité quelques demeures de Beverly Hills mais aussi les taudis du delta du Mississipi. J'ai vu la désolation des réserves indiennes du Dakota du Nord. J'ai parcouru une ville en Arizona où seules les personnes âgées ont le droit de vivre, pas les enfants. J'ai vu quelques prisons et une chambre d'exécution.

Al Gore a peut-être inventé l'Internet mais j'ai assisté à son émergence. Je suis allé à Cap Canaveral assister au lancement d'une navette de la NASA. J'ai couvert un tournoi de tennis à Flushing Meadow. Mes rédacteurs en chef à Paris ont insisté pour que je ne le fasse plus jamais ensuite.

Mon reportage de la visite du pape à Cuba a tourné court. J'étais déjà à la Havane mais on m'a demandé de rentrer d'urgence aux Etats-Unis, comme beaucoup de mes collègues, parce que Bill Clinton prenait du bon temps avec une stagiaire.

Il était prévu que je couvre les jeux olympiques de 1996. Mais, quelques jours avant l'ouverture à Atlanta, un Boeing 747 de la TWA a explosé au dessus de l'Atlantique près de Long Island et il a fallu que je rentre rapidement à New York pour rendre compte des suites de cette tragédie.

Je me souviens aussi d'un samedi matin lorsqu'un avion plus petit s'est abimé dans le même secteur. Le pilote en était John Kennedy