After he leaves, Jacques Chirac intends setting up a foundation for saving the environment and creating cross-cultural dialogue, and it will be launched this autumn as part of his promise to still serve his nation but "in a different manner".
Jacques Chirac leaves the Elysee Palace permanently on Wednesday after a ceremony to hand over his role to Nicolas Sarkozy, and he will also give the launch codes for France's nuclear weapons to his successor.
As a former head of state, Jacques Chirac will become a member of France's highest constitutional authority, the Constitutional Council, and he and his wife, Bernadette, will move into an apartment belonging to the family of the late former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri.
