Marseille senator and mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin receives German President Joachim Gauck at the City Hall in Marseille, southern France on September 5, 2013. It is the first formal state visit to France by a German head of state in 17 years. Gauck came to mark the 50th anniversary of the post-war Elysee reconciliation treaty between both nations. Marseille is one of this year's European Capitals of Culture. Photo by Philippe Laurenson/ABACAPRESS.COM