Obama in France

Can't miss the opportunity to let my US friends know that President Obama and the First Lady made a huge hit here in France today. They arrived in Strasbourg, in the northwest of France, on the German border, for the NATO meeting going on there. I don't know whether that meeting has been getting the coverage that the G20 meeting in London received, but there is a tent city set up outside of Strasbourg, housing the many thousands of protesters who descended on the town. There were many clashes with the police yesterday - these protesters are against French participation in NATO (although apparently polls show that most French are OK with it), against the wars, and many other things, I'm sure.

The Obamas were met in Strasbourg by President Sarkozy and his first lady, who was conspicuously absent in London. The papers tattled that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was being nice and giving Michelle Obama the stage in London. For heaven's sake! The two of them, Michelle and Carla, made a striking pair in the pictures I saw - I noticed that Carla was wearing flats so that she wouldn't tower over her very short husband; Michelle has been keeping her heels pretty low too, but she still seemed to tower over Carla.

The crowds were going wild over President Obama's arrival in Strasbourg - it was fun to see the adoration again - the campaign in the US seems now sooooo long ago. Barack even got to do a "town hall-style" event in an stadium in Strasbourg - he and Michelle looked like they were enjoying themselves in the cheers from the crowd. Life in Washington has been a little strained lately, what with the financial crisis, the war in Afghanistan, health care reform, cabinet secretaries taking so long to get confirmed by the Senate... Nothing like adrenalin from a crowd to pick you up again.

Ah yes, good to be an American in Europe again!