Mrs Richez-Lerouge says that the same fate awaits another cheese, the beautifully named Vacherin d'Abondance, from the Alps of the Haute Savoie Only three elderly farmer-cheesemakers remain. None of them has a successor.Throughout France yesterday, specialist cheese shops and the gourmet departments of large stores, such as Galeries Lafayette in Paris, organised street parties with sales and free tastings of raw-milk cheeses to promote awareness of France's cheese heritage "All is far from lost," said Mrs Richez-Lerouge. "We hope to re-introduce the French, and afterwards the British and others, to the treasures that have come down to us over the centuries.". The husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco, whose father, Prince Rainier, is due to be buried on Friday, was rushed to hospital yesterday, reinforcing the belief that there is a curse on the principality's ruling house. For most people the cardinals celebrating Mass were only a far-off streak of red. But when Cardinal Ratzinger elevated the Host, and the bells of St Peter's tolled for John Paul, many dropped to their knees.As soon as the funeral was over, however, the vast crowd seemingly evaporated, leaving millions of plastic bottles behind.

Tempers frayed slightly as the squash became uncomfortable, and medical volunteers regularly had to rescue fainters. Helicopters buzzed overhead, and a rising wind, wafting the stink of portable lavatories through the streets, made the sound system crackle and boom.But though the crowd numbered millions, it displayed a remarkable unity of purpose. A chant of "Giovanni Paolo" rang out; hissing greeted big-screen pictures of President George Bush's arrival When the Mass finally began, all fell silent Everyone was rapt and attentive I saw no weeping: the mood was serious rather than mournful. There was quiet clapping only at the sight of the Pope's coffin on the screen. Anyone wanting to get within a mile of St Peter's for the funeral Mass needed to be up at four at the very latest.As dawn rose over Bernini's dome, the streets were crammed. This was a great man - we should honour that, whatever our belief or even our non-belief."By Thursday noon, the roads leading to St Peter's Square were already lined with humped figures wrapped in blankets When night fell, the pavements glittered with nightlights.

We loved him, and he loved us." Half the pilgrims were Poles, carrying flags in the national colours of red and white, tied with a black mourning band. Once or twice there was a shout of "Krakow!" to loud applause. "It is like being in Poland," said Joanna.Others were in Rome less for reasons of religious faith than for a desire to be part of an extraordinary experience. An Afghan woman in her late thirties, who called herself a "lapsed Muslim", said she had come to Rome because "something is happening here that is making history. A friend had just texted them to say she had been queuing for six hours.

They queued for five: "We were lucky."The Polish students looked amazed when I asked them why they'd driven for 15 hours to be at John Paul's funeral "He is our friend," said Ewelina "He is the friend of all Polish people. This would previously have led to Monaco becoming part of France once again, but the constitution was changed to allow his sisters, his aunt and their descendants to succeed.. To an uninitiated spectator, the events of the past week in Rome might resemble a particularly colourful costume drama. Black-clad priests, young and old, mingled with cardinals in red, bishops in purple and nuns in an array of headgear from the simple blue and white veils of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity to the elaborate wimples worn by the Polish sisters who looked after Pope John Paul II for 25 years. Then there were the Pope's Swiss Guards in their candy stripes.But in a week when the church's past and future came together with such compelling force, it is the sea of young people with rucksacks, baseball caps and trainers that will be remembered - thousands upon thousands of them.

Buckling under the weight of enormous backpacks and bedrolls, they inched like snails over the bridges that cross the River Tiber towards St Peter's Square to see the body of John Paul II lying in state. They appeared undaunted by the prospect of waiting up to 12 hours - straight from airports and railway stations, they joined the queue.A group from Derry, Northern Ireland, looking forward to an all-night vigil, had already staked their places for the funeral by unrolling their bedrolls in the Via Conciliazione. Lorraine, an accountant, said she was happy to do it: "Tonight is for John Paul." Her friend Siobhan said simply: "Today the world is rooting for John Paul." It was the late Pope's personal holiness and faith, they agreed, that had led them to give up two nights to sleeping rough on a cold pavement: "We are here because we love him."The beeping of texts and mobiles was a constant accompaniment to the pilgrims. Hundreds of hands rose above the crowds to take pictures on camera phones, and beam them to friends. On several occasions the volume of calls overloaded networks near the Vatican, and it was impossible to get a signal.Down on the banks of the Tiber, there were mounds of coloured sleeping bags. Late on Thursday afternoon, Polish students Ewelina, Adam and Joanna basked in the April sunshine. His 1956 wedding to the Hollywood star Grace Kelly was seen as a fairytale, but the marriage was stormy.Princess Grace died in a car crash in 1982, and a motorboat accident claimed the life of Caroline's second husband in 1990.