vegetarian or non-gluten it will be addressed. the whitehouse is a private home so the first lady wants to be gracious and having people coming into their home and be comfortable. so in many cases we go out of the way to make sure all of the alternative menus were offered. american wines from california and washington state -- the reasoning behind that? the whitehouse is all about highlighting american food, wine and entertaining. so even though france has a story history of wine, we are pretty good at it. i was looking at the wines. it would appear we have a couple really, really good ones. again, i think they are in the french style but by american producers. i am looking at the sparkling

wine. it would appear that it is montechello in virginia which is an interesting tie between jefferson and the french. i think they are going to be excellent wines. they are not well known but they are exceptional. >> and the logistics that go into this. this isn't a large whitehouse kitchen and 350 guest. >> it is smaller than many people's home kitchens. it is sort of a little portion that is small, high powered and all of the staff that works

there are talentalented and at top of their game. you are talking about a great team of professionals and an equipped kitchen. this is like a broadway opening. people are rehearsing and rehearsing. there is no margin of error. it is like a hotel or restaurant, where if it doesn't go well you get 10% off the bill. you have to hit this. that is the real difficulty of it. the dinner is well rehearsed but the pressure is there that there could be no slip ups. >> what advice would you give the staff tonight? what have you given them in the past? >> the chef there now is exceedingly talents culinary and great eye and palate for design. she will have no problemxcuti problemxcuting -- problem executing -- i don't have words

of wisdom because she is doing a super, super job. the only important thing is that everyone pulls together and realizes while it is a state dinner, the true stars there are not the chef or the service or the floral. it is the president and the first lady. >> walter was the former executive chef and the author of the book "whitehouse chef". now living in new mexico. thanks for being with us. >> my pleasure >> you can join in on the conversation at facebook and share your thoughts about the state dinner for the french president. we will get more of your calls

in just minute. we are told now that the guest of honor, the first lady and president on the south lawn, with tent setup with a monet-style them. we will see what it looks like inside the tent and the toast by the president and french president. but in the area known as the cross hall, the president, first lady and the french president in a receding line before they met with the 150 guest in attendance.

[music playing] >> as they move from the private quarters to the state florida and went to the blue room, that is a standard protocol for the

dinners? >> yes, they were coming from the private residence. what the social secretary does is stay to the gentlemen, well they are standing up there ready as they are all of the time, and they say are you ready to accept the colors. and they come down and do a dignified move and come down the stairs followed by the head of state and the first lady. >> they go to the blue line and they have a receiving line with 350 guest and that is a lot to shake hands with. >> it is. but the social aids that you see in the photographs around the whitehouse are just wonderful. and they are so polite and nice at moving the guest through if someone wants to spend a little bit more time with the president chatting >> i know you have one story about being prepared for the unexpected and we will get to that. but first we will go to sarah

from south carolina. good evening. go ahead, sarah. >> i wanted to ask how you talked about the staff earlier and how well they are trained and ready for anything. i would like to ask her as far as the number is concerned, how many aids does it take to make everything run smoothly from the start to the very end and be able to have everything cleared away? how many is there? >> gosh, i am from north carolina so i love your accent. it varies on the set up the dinner. the flow is beautiful to see. you bring in wait staff that is trained very well and knows how to place the plates down all at the same time.

i don't know how many. i think we have had as many as 50-60 waiters that move. it is like a butterfly show the way they move in and out. it is cleaned up by the time the next course is coming out. they are very well trained. but the numbers vary based on the table and how easy it is to move. you have 200 so you have to think about moving the extra staff around. >> tim is on the phone from alexander, virginia. >> thanks for taking my call. i think you did a great job as social secretary. put i would like to know how did you make sure you got all of the etiquette and protocol issues just right? >> that is a good question.

the preview social secretary are a great group. and now we have the first male social secretary. and we have been supportive of him. but they are a wonderful group that will help with anything. you can call and say what do you do in this situation. i worked with marsha who is the chief of protocol when i took over. so i could pick up the phone and is ask her anything. she was so nice and lovely working with it: it isn't partisan. we were there to help each other. >> the formality of the event as you look at the wait staff and everyone in their finest.

can this be stressful for guest? >> it can be. you wear clothes that are not comfortable. and they are walking on marble. but you sit down and have a nice dinner and the foods and wines are wonderful and you get to be entertained with wonderful ene ener -- entertainment -- >> we have our next caller >> how did you become social secretary? >> i was on the president's first campaign and wanted to serve in the administration so i was chief of staff for our trade representatives ron kirk.

when the previous secretary, rogers went back to chicago, the president asked if i would do the job. it was a big ask but i am glad i did it was it was fulfilling. >> during the first state dinner, guest got in that were not supposed and things changed to make sure that didn't happen again. can you explain? >> i think after that happened people stepped back and said this shouldn't have happened and let's make sure every i is dotted and everything t is crossed. we were more diligent and i went to bed with the guest list under my pillow and made sure every guest came through. >> the invitation is something you cannot miss in the mail because it is thick on heavy bonded paper and there is a lot to it. >> you can feel the print on it, too. it is wonderful. it is as a nice thing.

it is the way things should be. >> there is a menu at the table? >> a menu people can take home as a keepsake. it has the menu and wine. >> i think we have the videos and we will show you as we hear from michael in west virginia. >> yes, thank you have taking my call. -- for -- >> i just wondering if michele obama's mother take part in the planning and does she attend the dinners? >> she is a lovely women and took part in the dinners i did and took part in the tasting. she has great experience with that and can say what needs to be added and what would go

better with this dish or side. she is a great asset to the tasting. >> can you put a price tag on what this cost the whitehouse? >> i think it varies. you know, there are -- it takes a lot to put them on. it can be a little pricier than your average dinner party >> the president is going to be travelling to france for the 70th anniversary for the d-day invasion. let's go to georgia. good evening. >> good evening, caller. >> i am impressed by the protocol of you. i was a lucky person -- i am a united states citizen from pakist pakistan region.

and i welcomed president in 1979. if there is a muslim guest, how do you serve them? >> if the head of state has dietary restrictions we know that way ahead of time. we work with their staff and find out if they have dairy sensitiveties or don't like b s brusle sprouts or something. >> is there an exchange of gifts and how is that determined? >> there is an exchange of gifts. the protocol office at the state department does of the work. they are amazing and spend months on doing their homework.

what does steve like? what are his hobbies? what are his favorite foods? they dig around and find out stories that would make a good gift >> what is the proper etiquette for, in this case, the president of france to send a thank you to the first lady and president? do they send a note? >> i don't think if i have seen a note if a note has come. it is hard to get mail into the whitehouse. but i would imagine a note would be good. ...

>> when we did china, we moved people from the state dining room into the easter road. they were able to have coffee and move into the eastern room. dinner by dinner. >> final question, you have to be prepared for everything including -- a wardrobe malfunction. >> yes. it was not the first lady but the president. came down fromy private quarters and that usually takes at least three minutes. are lined up waiting downstairs waiting for the receiving line. he was buttoning his jacket on his tuxedo and the button pops off.

president obama, his button pops off of his jacket. we had to find a needle and thread and so it's back on. that took about 10 minutes. was sayingl officers what is going on? we had a workable amount function but we got it fixed. everything went smoothly. of the obama white house. former social secretary. thank you for being with us. >> we want to share more from the white house as we said french president hollande to be greeted by the president and the first lady. this is what it looked like.

[inaudible conversations] ♪ ♪

>> that was about two hours ago as the president and first lady welcome to the french president. now at this hour the french president and the american president toasting each other taking place in a tent that has been described by writers as a monet masterpiece. coming up shortly you will have a chance to see what it looks like inside. we cannot bring it to you live because of -- because of the logistics'. he will be a will to appeal it out and show it to you momentarily. while the president of france was arriving, on the lower level guests were arriving. 350 guests invited for tonight state dinner and we will watch the scene as it unfolded late tonight. [inaudible conversations]

>> ambassador charles rifkin. the our role cleveland, mrs. linda d. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] mrs. rachael robinson. mr. norman siegel. ms. laura hold gate.

>> mr. and mrs. ryan mr. charles adams jr. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] mr. and mrs. kenneth ehrlich. [inaudible conversations] >> ms. constance's millstream. [inaudible conversations]

mr. and mrs. peter s. eliot. [inaudible conversations] >> mr. and mrs. richard plethora . [inaudible conversations] mr. kevin smith. [inaudible conversations] correcting, mr. keith smith. mr. burton smith.

ms. julie e. milliken. ms. roberta catherine and mist late -- missed rachael lagard. [inaudible conversations] ms. liz simon. [inaudible conversations]

mr. and mrs. john goldman. >> the honor roll and mrs. harold rogers. [inaudible conversations] mr. and mrs. jack smith.

patrick. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the hon. and mrs. mike donovan. [inaudible conversations]

mr. and mrs. joe been some. [inaudible conversations] the governor of kentucky and mrs. bashir. >> misters steve it plans -- it steve clemens. it.

[laughter] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> mr. anderson this is steve holland. it jeff zucker and steve holland , longtime white house correspondent for writers. again, you're looking at the arrival of the guests that began around 6:30 p.m. this evening in an area known as the bookseller. they then moved upstairs for a reception and then took a trolly a short distance on the south

side of the white house for the actual debtor itself. the state dining room and east room not able to handle the 350 guests to honor the french president. so this is what the scene looks like inside the south lawn to and to to replicate a money money-inspired setting in much have that transportation of a spring-like the man and a test by the president of the united states in honor of the president of france. [applause] [applause] >> a good evening, everybody. please have a seat. [laughter]

michele and i are so honored to welcome you to the white house as we host the president and his delegation for this historic state visit between our nation, the first in nearly 20 years. and our press conference today i quoted the son of france in 1831 set out across our young country and a chronicle of our american democracy as those are always amazed this nation of ours and captured its. as well as anyone ever has. tonight i would like to share some of his lesser-known

observations about american dining, the absence of wind in our meals which first struck him as very disagreeable and still cannot understand a multitude of things that americans succeed in introducing into their stomachs. some things did not change. when francois came here years ago to study i suspect he said the same time. about the white house, but the traveling companion wrote the president of the united states occupies a palace that in paris would be called a fine private residence. and he wrote -- and i very much can relate to this, the power of the king of france would be know if there were modeled after the power of the president. [laughter]

and he did not have to do with the filibuster. one young american lawyer went to paris and was deeply moved to see white and black students studying together. and that was charles summer who became one of our greatest abolitionists and helped to end slavery in is one of the reasons that all of us can be here this evening as full citizens free in the cool. it is true that we americans have grown to love all things french, film, food, wine, especially the wind. but most of all we love our french friends because we stood together for freedom for more than 200 years. tonight i want to pay tribute for the principle of and principal careers that he has shown on the world stage. i thank you, francois.

we started this busy yesterday at monticello, and i would like to and where we began. thomas jefferson wrote trope -- so as the troweled inhabitants of any nation on what country on earth would you rather live. certainly in my home when my friends to our relations in the earliest and sweetest affections and recollections of my life. but jefferson added, which would be your second choice. france, of course. and so i propose a toast. to our friend and partner who all of our friends from france or here today. god bless america and long live the alliance between our great nations. >> here here. >> cheers.

[silence] >> i think it is right here. [inaudible question] [applause] [applause] >> mr. president, members of the congress and french parliament, ladies and gentlemen, i hope a translation exists. [laughter] i would like to thank you, mr. president to muffle the warm welcome they you have extended to me and my delegation. france and the united states of america are tied by history,

french citizens such as lafayette who fought alongside the heroes of independence to when your freedom, freedom to preserve. the glorious history of the americans who came to fight during the first world war and then in june, 1944, to lead the european continent from oppression. this have to and it was a great moment in the great honor to applaud your unknown soldier with the french vision of honor and a word veterans of the civil war. i promise, we shall never forget that. [applause]

more, after september 11th 2001 terrorist attack on that for a full day bureau all americans. this is the very reason why we have come together. now, i will speak french. [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue] [laughter] [speaking in native tongue]

[speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue]

[speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue]

[speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in french]

[speaking in french] [speaking in french] >> i raise my glass in honor of america, the president, barack obama, the united states. [speaking in french] [applause] [speaking in french] >> we have feelings for one another. we love the americans, and you love the french. [laughter] we share the same universal values, freedom, democracy.

we have been defending these values together. the french armed forces are able to rely on the support provided by the u.s. soldiers and equipment in the central african republic. your support as accompanied our operations aiming at restoring security in this country torn by a violence between religion. see whether we have removed the unacceptable threat of an iranian nuclear weapon. we have succeeded in reaching an internal agreement in syria. we together removed the threat of force, the threat of a worsening situation and managers to force the regime of assad

with the stockpiles of chemical weapons and together we are looking resolutely for a political outcome so desperately needed. to get a french and americans also want to work for growth and introduce a new rules that will prevented financial crisis and enable us to fight more efficiently against. [inaudible] the strength and robustness of the american economy is a source of hope for all countries provided that we'll -- open our markets. we will succeed. together we will also rise to the challenge of climate change. hosting their conference in 2015. it is up to us to convince our major partners to take the

necessary steps before it is too late, and i know i can count on your commitment. mr. president, the relations between our two countries have reached an exceptional level of closeness. there is one simple reason for that. we share the same vision of the world and share a mutual respect the united states of america and france are two great nations. what is expected of them is to keep the promise, the promise of freedom and the promise of progress and also to keep the dream alive, that same dream that made by jefferson, washington, lafayette commanded french revolutionaries, the dream to change the world by uniting our forces, united -- uniting our talents, we will be able to keep the flame of hope alive.

i raise my glass to the president of the united states of america and to michele obama. long live the united states. along with france. [applause] [applause] recognizes the

gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen,