FRANCE IS TO officially get its new president today as Nicolas Sarkozy welcomes Francois Hollande to the Elysée Palace for the official swearing in ceremony.
However, in his famously understated-style, Hollande is keeping the affair low-key. There will be no family members present – not even his wife Valerie Treierweiler or his children, according to France24.
After a campaign during which he promised of being a “normal” president, it is understood his swearing in ceremony will be appropriately sober.
And he won’t be resting up in his new home for the day. Tonight, he travels to Berlin to discuss the future of the eurzone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reports BBC News.
Hollande is due to arrive at the palace for a meeting with Sarkozy at about 10am. France 24 said the 20-minute meeting will see Sarkozy hand over various dossiers, including secret codes for the country’s nuclear weapons.
Members of Hollande’s Socialist Party will attend the ceremony which will feature an inauguration address and a 21-canon salute. He will visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe and pay homage to important figures of French history.
The French president is elected to a five-year term.
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