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| AFP / PATRICK KOVARIK |
The new Miss Universe, 23-year-old Iris Mittenaere, declared Friday proud to "represent France a little" in the world, on her first trip to her country since she was crowned in the Philippines and before meeting François Hollande on Saturday.
"I am honored to meet him because, although I am not president, I feel like representing a little bit of France on my scale, like him!" she said during a press conference at the Hotel Marignan in Paris on Friday.
"I had missed it: my family, the croissants, French gastronomy and even speaking French!", The young woman said, "very, very happy" to finally come back to France.
Her "only anguish" concerned the reception of the French. "I said to myself," How are they going to receive me? Are they going to be happy? But I was better received than I had thought, "she said.
Present for a week in French territory, Mittenaere displays a busy schedule, between media tour and reunion with her family. After the press conference at the Hotel Marignan, she had dinner with her family.
She must spend a few days in Lille, her home town, where the public can come to meet her on Sunday, at a grand parade, starting at 11:00 AM.
As for her future, Iris Mittenaere is "still asking questions". "I always want to be a dentist of course," says the young woman who was in 5th year of dental surgery before becoming Miss France.
But "I always told myself that I could do everything, so I want to try everything to see if I'm gifted." Cinema, modeling, television: it excludes nothing except singing. "I am the only one, with my mother, to think that I sing well!", joked the young beauty queen.
Crowned as the 65th Miss Universe on January 30 in the Philippines, Iris Mittenaere had previously been elected Miss France and Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais 2016.
Source: Associated Press, France, 3/17/2017