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Luxor: French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for a private holiday accompanied by
his new girlfriend, former supermodel Carla Bruni.
French billionaire Vincent Bollore, who owns a media empire, provided the plane that flew Sarkozy, Bruni and nine others from Paris to the pharaonic splendour of Luxor, where the recently divorced Sarkozy was to relax for a few days ahead of an official visit on December 30.
The group boarded in a private hangar in Paris to avoid prying lenses, while paparazzi awaited in Luxor to compete for the first shots of the pair, perhaps during a felucca boat ride on the Nile at sunset.
Egyptian security forces were deployed discreetly around the town, although a French journalist and cameraman were briefly detained overnight by police for filming the hotel.
Council workers were seen on Monday giving a fresh lick of paint to the riverside opposite the hotel, with the town thronged by foreign tourists spending Christmas in the balmy winter air of southern Egypt.
Sarkozy and Bruni held hands as they arrived at the city of
Luxor on the banks of the Nile.
Sarko, as he is known by both supporters and opponents, will be staying in a $1,100 (about Dh4,040) a night suite in the Victorian elegance of Luxor's Old Winter Palace hotel on the east bank of the Nile, an Egyptian source said.
Sarkozy is spending a few daysin Luxor before he makes a formal state trip to Cairo at the endof the month.
Earlier this month, pictures of the 52-year-old president
accompanying Bruni, 39, at Disneyland Paris were splashed allover the French press.
Sarkozy and his second wife Cecilia split amicably in
October after 11 years of marriage. It was the first time in
modern French history that a serving president had separatedfrom his wife.
The Italian-born Bruni has recently become a singer after
ending her modelling career. The dark-haired former catwalk
queen has previously been linked with rock stars Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, as well as US businessman Donald Trump.
Bruni has a son from a previous relationship, while Sarkozy
has two elder sons from his first marriage, and a third son fromhis marriage to Cecilia.
According to French media, Sarkozy borrowed a private plane
from French billionaire Vincent Bollore for the trip.
The French president's department has declined to comment on Sarkozy's trip to Luxor, saying it is a personal affair.
The use of the tycoon's plane to fly the president to Egypt will also draw media attention after Bollore, one of France's richest men, took Sarkozy on a big-budget holiday to Malta soon after his election in May.
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