A photographer managed to capture that briefest of moments, heavy with historic symbolism, when Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy held hands during the November 11 armistice commemorations in Paris. The German chancellor and the French president got on famously, and wanted everybody to know it.

It would be easy for a cynical reporter to belittle the ostentatious display of the Franco-German friendship. We all know the bilateral relationship has been poisonous for the last two and a half years, so why should we be impressed?