Salan energetically produced books at the rate of a volume a year, well into his seventies. Always the elegant "Mandarin", with silver hair lightly tinted mauve or saffron, according to his mood, he lived in a comfortable Paris apartment surrounded by gilded buddhas, carved elephant tusks, opium pipes and all the artefacts of the Far East which he so loved. His pension was restored, and his many decorations for valour — but not his campaign ribbons, nor his rank. Nevertheless, "though I am just plain Monsieur Raoul Salan, everybody calls me mon général and they often salute me in the street!" he would claim.

XREF: Connects to broader patterns of deposed leaders and fallen officials who retain informal prestige and public deference long after formal authority is stripped.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1668