Macron rebuffs criticism for birthday stay in lavish chateau

Chambord, France

FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron has hit back at criticism that he was "cut off from the people" for spending the weekend before his birthday at the lavish chateau of King Francois I.

Mr Macron, who turns 40 this Thursday, spent the weekend at the chateau in the Loire Valley estate of Chambord with his wife Brigitte and extended family, staying in a cottage on the vast grounds and enjoying a dinner in one of the castle's 440 rooms.