"The differences have not changed, of course, but they did well to try to avoid a widening of the gap," said Simon Serfaty, director of the Europe program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"Chirac wants to make sure that he is not left behind" when the postwar reconstruction of Iraq begins, Serfaty added.

Chirac called Bush on Tuesday -- their first contact since February 7 -- for a 20-minute conversation qualified as "positive" by the French leader's office and "businesslike" by the White House.

Chirac's spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said he told Bush of "France's willingness to act in a pragmatic way" with respect to the rebuilding of Iraq -- a vague concept, according to Washington.

"I think it's something that France can explain. I think that they may be seeking to find what role they may be able to play," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Paris and Washington have been at loggerheads over France's opposition to the use of military force against Iraq, with Chirac insisting for months that the crisis could be resolved through tougher UN weapons inspections.

The spat escalated when Chirac vowed to use France's UN Security Council veto to block any resolution authorizing military action, forcing Washington and London to go after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on their own.

The row sparked a wave of France-bashing in the United States, with angry consumers pouring out bottles of French wine, and restaurants -- including the cafeterias in the US House of Representatives -- renaming foods like french fries and french toast into "freedom fries" and "freedom toast."

But analysts say that while Paris is opening the door to dialogue, Washington is not quite ready to engage.

"France did not play its weak hand well, but it's really up to the United States to be magnanimous in victory," said Dana Allin, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

"But I don't see that happening," he added, calling the reaction in Washington "a little bit disturbing."

Allin explained that as Washington is revelling in its military victory in Iraq, "there is probably a tendency to think that it can isolate France, make it pay a price," while inviting anti-war Germany and Russia back to the negotiating table.

Both Allin and Serfaty highlighted the key role of British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- Bush's staunch supporter in the war -- in any rapprochement between Paris and Washington, with Serfaty calling him "the only guy at this point in time who is not only able but willing to speak to everybody else."

Blair and Chirac, who locked horns over the US-British offensive in Iraq but agree that the United Nations should play a key role in the country's future, met Wednesday on the sidelines of a European Union summit in Athens.

"Britain is key in this," Allin said. "On a lot of these critical issues, the British are more French than American."

"One would hope that the hubris in Washington would be checked by a realization that you can't push Britain too far," he added.

Chirac and Bush will have a chance to resume their dialogue at a summit of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations in the lakefront Alpine town of Evian-les-Bains on June 1-3.

"You now have a clock that is ticking from now until June 2," Serfaty said, suggesting that Paris and Washington "be sure that Chirac and Bush don't engage in a pas-de-deux that would keep them as far away from each other as possible."

"They have to be seen dancing together," he added.

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