I was not overly thrilled when I learned the new President of France was to be the Islamophobe Nicolas Sarkozy. From all accounts he’s a bit too right-wing ::coughfascistcough: for this day and age and by all accounts a great fan of the surveillance state. I felt his wife, Cecilia, was about an 8.4 on the earth-shaking scale. (I admit to a weakness for dark-haired ladies with blue or grey eyes. Freckles just add bonus points.)

M. Sarkozy was vacationing somewhere or other on this side of the Atlantic over the weekend and he and Madame Sarkozy were invited to stop by Mr Bu$h’s real home, the Kennebunkport compound of the Bu$h family.

PARIS (AFP) - Cecilia Sarkozy's decision to bow out of a picnic with the president of the United States this weekend is the latest proof of the French first lady's unpredictable, even rebellious take on her new role.

President Nicolas Sarkozy travelled alone to meet George W. Bush and his family at their Atlantic holiday home after Cecilia -- staying just an hour away at a US lakeside resort -- bowed out due to a throat ailment.

The US leader said he was "disappointed" but understanding after Cecilia called Laura Bush at the last minute to excuse herself, but the change of plan sounded a false note in what was billed as a rare personal get-together.

She was photographed later Sunday taking a stroll in town with two friends. Nicolas Sarkozy, meanwhile, was seen wearing earphones and jogging on a lakeside path with a seven-strong entourage.[emph added]

It might appear to some that breaking bread with a trumped-up little tin-pot barbarian is visqueux and déclassé but a little afternoon walk with friends is not too much of a strain for a sore throat.

Madame Sarkozy moves up in the earthquake contest, from 8.4 to 9.1.