french dressing

The French have come to town. But the zoom lenses seemed to be pointing towards newly demure Carla Bruni instead of Nicholas Sarkozy, in the very week when Carla's picture was up for auction at Christie's.

Of course, Mr Sarkozy has been trying to rebuild credibility back in his own country, where, after election, he seemed to go into something of downward slide, surrounded by the glint of overbling.

Visiting his near neighbours may be an interesting move, particularly as the Royals seemed to be able to dial up eleven on their own bling-ometer even to the extent of getting the horsemen in Windsor to wear special gold plated ceremonial suits - I wonder if that's a kind of Regal joke. I forgive Beckham's choice of golden football boots for the game against France, on account of his gaining his 100th cap, but there's some sort of quirky coincidence around all of this.
Interesting also to see that Dior clad la Bruni seemed to be on the platform for the important speeches delivered to Britain's great and good in French by her hubby. Many of the UK politicians seemed content to listen to the speech without translation and to be watching the new French reine des coeurs throughout. For the Sarkozys, the combination of visiting Windsor Castle, parading with horses and carriages through Windsor, plus a visit to Westminster Cathedral (ie the Catholic one rather than the Abbey) and then the Palace of Westminster all in the same day as touchdown is a pretty whirlwind experience.

And Nikki's speech in the gold encrusted Royal Gallery (which features distinctive pictures of two battles - Waterloo and Trafalgar) was all about entente cordiale and mutual support, including energetic references to working closely with the British in places such as Afganistan. Carla, who speaks significantly better English probably advised him not to mention the Guerre de Cent Ans, and will presumably be keeping an eye on things during the dinner occasions.

The next day should be quite interesting for the Browns who get a slot on what is primarily a State visit. After the big evening bash Wednesday night at Windsor Castle, the next day Mrs Brown entertains Carla, whilst Nicholas visits Gordon briefly in Downing Street before heading to a meeting at the Emirates Stadium.

More photo opportunities await.