French Leader's Visit With Bush Signals Warming
By Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post
KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine, Aug. 11 -- During Nicolas Sarkozy's visit Saturday, there was no fishing trip like the one Russian President Vladimir Putin enjoyed last month. Not even a game of horseshoes, a Bush family tradition on Walker's Point.
But for the newly inaugurated French president, being welcomed at the Bush compound for a private lunch -- a rare off-the-cuff encounter involving none of the usual diplomatic formalities -- marked a new era in U.S.-French relations. Far from being served "freedom fries," Sarkozy, a conservative who made the startling decision to take his August holiday in the United States, was greeted with a warmth usually reserved for the British, whose "special relationship" with the United States once set it apart from other European countries.
President Bush, famously chilly toward the French in the past, practically beamed as he ushered Sarkozy into his parents' home. This, it seemed, was his kind of Frenchman: a vibrant, confident fellow unafraid enough of French public opinion to vacation in America (he has been staying in New Hampshire, about 50 miles from the Bush compound).
"We're going to give him a hamburger or a hot dog, his choice," Bush said during a brief round of questions with reporters before the lunch began.
Sarkozy preemptively defended his choice of vacation spot -- something Bush, who spends most of his summer break in the sweltering brush of central Texas, has been known to do. "I came to visit the United States on holiday, on vacation, like 900,000 French do every year. It's a great country," Sarkozy said. "I'm very happy to be here. The United States is a close friend of France, and I'm very glad to be able to meet with the president of the United States here today."
(Continued here.)
Washington Post
KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine, Aug. 11 -- During Nicolas Sarkozy's visit Saturday, there was no fishing trip like the one Russian President Vladimir Putin enjoyed last month. Not even a game of horseshoes, a Bush family tradition on Walker's Point.
But for the newly inaugurated French president, being welcomed at the Bush compound for a private lunch -- a rare off-the-cuff encounter involving none of the usual diplomatic formalities -- marked a new era in U.S.-French relations. Far from being served "freedom fries," Sarkozy, a conservative who made the startling decision to take his August holiday in the United States, was greeted with a warmth usually reserved for the British, whose "special relationship" with the United States once set it apart from other European countries.
President Bush, famously chilly toward the French in the past, practically beamed as he ushered Sarkozy into his parents' home. This, it seemed, was his kind of Frenchman: a vibrant, confident fellow unafraid enough of French public opinion to vacation in America (he has been staying in New Hampshire, about 50 miles from the Bush compound).
"We're going to give him a hamburger or a hot dog, his choice," Bush said during a brief round of questions with reporters before the lunch began.
Sarkozy preemptively defended his choice of vacation spot -- something Bush, who spends most of his summer break in the sweltering brush of central Texas, has been known to do. "I came to visit the United States on holiday, on vacation, like 900,000 French do every year. It's a great country," Sarkozy said. "I'm very happy to be here. The United States is a close friend of France, and I'm very glad to be able to meet with the president of the United States here today."
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
He had flown to France for a funeral the day before, and his wife, Cecilia, and children, not feeling well, stayed behind unexpectedly on Saturday.
No need to send first responders to the lakeside resort of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire as Cecilia Sarkozy was seen Sunday taking a stroll where she and the French president are vacationing a day after she declined lunch with the US president.
It’s good to know that French like to vacation here (must be that euro/dollar exchange rate) … but not within 50 miles of George Bush.
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