Bullitt was posted to France in October 1936 as ambassador. Fluent in French and an ardent francophile, Bullitt became established in Paris society. He rented a château at Chantilly and owned at least 18,000 bottles of French wine. As a close friend of Roosevelt, with whom he had daily telephone conversations, Bullitt was widely regarded as Roosevelt's personal envoy to France and so was much courted by French politicians. Bullitt was especially close to Léon Blum and Édouard Daladier and had cordial but not friendly relations with Georges Bonnet. Historians have criticized Bullitt for being too influenced by the last person to whom he spoke and for including too much gossip in his dispatches to Washington.