With their hand-holding and sidelong glances, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni were a PDA couple on the first day of their trip to India

SarCosy

With their hand-holding and sidelong glances, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni were a PDA couple on the first day of their trip to India

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Bengaluru to address a group of scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday. Accompanying him was a group of 60 CEOs of corporations and his lovely ex-model wife, Carla Bruni.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy reaches out for First Lady Carla
Bruni-Sarkozy's hand at a conference in Bengaluru on Saturday,
the first day of their four-day official visit to India. PIC/ AFP Photo

While the attendees at the ISRO, comprising a motley group of 500 scientists, corporates and students, were left confused by Sarkozy's speech delivered in rapid French, they were in no doubt about the President's love for his wife.

"Sarkozy and Bruni were extremely affectionate towards each other. They were constantly holding hands, looking and smiling at each other. In fact, the vibe between them was warmer than, say, even Barack and Michelle Obama on their India visit. They are French, after all," said a journalist from an international wire service who attended the conference.

According to sources, the French brand of affection was on display the moment Sarkozy alighted from the chartered flight at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Airport. He escorted the First Lady down arm-in-arm. Sarokozy and Bruni headed straight to the Leela Palace Hotel, which they reached at 10.30 am and left for the ISRO conference two hours later.

Spoke too fast, left too soon
Conference attendees were provided with 6.5 pages of the English transcript of Sarkozy's speech. Electronic translators were attached to the seats as well. However, the President spoke too fast for them to follow.
Chandrashekhar, an employee of ISRO said, "By the time we were on the first page, he was already saying something printed on the second page. I could hardly understand anything."

In his speech, Sarkozy encouraged India's nuclear programmes and invited Indian students to France to pursue higher studies and research.

"His speech touched on important aspects of Indo-French relations. But the essence was lost as we were busy going through the transcript instead of concentrating on the speech," said a scientist from ISRO, on condition of anonymity.

To the monument of love
After the conference, Sarkozy and Bruni left in an envoy of 25 cars, along with two ambulances that were were on standby. Bruni waved to the waiting cameramen at the entrance. The chartered flight that was supposed to take off at 1.50 pm for Agra left 20 minutes late from HAL airport.

Rumours of marital trouble between Sarkozy and Bruni had been doing the rounds; there was even speculation about whether Bruni would accompany Sarkozy on his India visit. However, the French first couple left for Agra to visit the Taj Mahal, a much-talked about promise he had made to Bruni two years ago, right after the ISRO conference.

That, if not their public display of affection, should bring the rumour mills to a grinding halt.

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