OMAHA BEACH, France — Nicolas Sarkozy certainly tried hard to please the American president when the two leaders met to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
The French leader pulled out the stops for President Barack Obama’s visit to Normandy, spilling with unusually generous praise for “the America that we love” and the U.S. veterans who fought for France’s freedom from the Nazis.
Obama was grateful but reserved. The men were friendly, but they didn’t seem to create much of a spark — at least in public.
“President Sarkozy talks fast, so we can still do lots of things” even if the visit is brief, Obama said.
Sarkozy responded, “I talk fast, but he, he understands fast.”
Obama papered over any suspected rifts, saying his time is always limited when he travels.
Noting that the U.S. economy “requires a lot of work,” he said he would love to come and picnic in Paris’ Luxembourg Gardens one day when he had more time. French commentators read that to mean when he is finished being president.
