France awaits arrival of Benedict XVI

A word of advice if you're planning a trip to France on Friday, especially if you're scheduled to arrive at Orly airport, south of the capital, Paris. You might to rethink your travel arrangements as you could be held up for a while.

Just in case you hadn't already guessed from the headline, the Pope will be arriving late morning (11h15 to be precise) to begin a three day visit, and security is likely to be at a maximum.

When Benedict XVI (or Benoit XVI as he's known here in France) touches down he can expect to be met by the assembled hoards of Vatican watchers, media hacks and just the plain curious who will be there to greet him.

That's not forgetting the faithful who've come to catch a glimpse of the head of the Catholic church of course, nor the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy and the first lady Carla-Bruni Sarkozy, who are expected to welcome him officially to France on this, his first trip as Pope.

That has raised a few eyebrows here in France, as it marks a break with protocol which would normally have the prime minister, François Fillon, greeting the Pontiff and then accompanying him to the president's official residence, the Elysée palace.

Benedict XVI will be in France until Monday lunchtime and not surprisingly the agenda is packed by anyone's standards, let alone that of an 81-year-old. He'll take in the French capital on Friday and Saturday followed by a day and a half in Lourdes in the south west of the country.

The national daily Le Figaro assures us that there'll be a minimum of French red tape with only a handful of services restricted to those with passes. Otherwise "the public ceremonies require neither registration nor reservation. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for as many who wish, to join in," it says.

Here's just a taster of the Parisian leg of his trip. For a complete rundown you can look at the schedule as published in Le Figaro.

After his meeting with Sarkozy, he'll see representatives of France's Jewish community and that'll be followed by an afternoon visit to the Collège des Bernardins, where he'll meet representatives from the French cultural world (invitation only).

Later on there'll be a trip through the Latin quarter in the Popemobile towards Notre Dame. For Parisians it'll be the only time they'll be able to get really close to the Pope.

In the evening he'll celebrate Vespers at Notre Dame with priests and other members of the Catholic church, a service that'll be relayed to the public outside the cathedral on giant screens.

Afterwards Benedict XVI will address the Catholic Youth who will have gathered outside the cathedral, and there will then be a procession "Chemin de lumière" (the way of light) - minus the Pope - to Esplanade des Invalides. It's a space that can hold up to 200,000 people.

The Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois will lead a service there. Again the Pope is not expected to be present.

And overnight there'll be the chance for young (an old alike) to gather and await a service at 10 o'clock the next morning when the Pope will lead Mass.

At 4.30pm - another reason to give Orly airport a wide berth - he'll leave for Lourdes and the second part of his visit until his scheduled departure at lunchtime on Monday.

How exactly the French will respond to Benedict XVI was a question put to Cardinal Vingt-Trois by the popular daily, Le Parisien. And he had had an interesting perspective on how the French in general view the Pope - particularly in relation to John-Paul II to whom they (the French) often apparently start off any reply when asked their feelings about the current Pontiff.

"That's normal. John-Paul II was the Pope for 27 years," he responded.

"He came to France on average every two or three years.

"The Pope, for the French, remains John-Paul II. There is also an inherent difference in the personality of the two men", he added.

"Benedict XVI is not a man who loves crowds. He is much more introverted."

Anyone planning a trip to France or who's already here can find out all the information they want from three different (official) websites - once again courtesy of Le Figaro. One in French and the other two in French, English, German, Italian and Spanish.