Carnet de Route: Un jour pas tout a fait comme les autres...

Eh oui, forcement, de ce côté du globe, il était difficile de s'endormir dimanche soir sans connaître les fameux résultats. Et devoir attendre jusqu'au lundi matin pour que le verdict tombe !
Alors, ça y est ! La France a fait son choix ! Mais, plutôt que de débattre une énième fois du résultat de ces élections, tous partisans que nous sommes, je vous propose de jeter un regard de l'autre côté de l'Atlantique...

Extraits du New-York Times :

PARIS, May 6 — Nicolas Sarkozy, the passionate, pugnacious son of a Hungarian immigrant, was elected president of France on Sunday, promising a break with the past, a new style of leadership, and a renewal of relations with the United States and the rest of Europe.

With the entire vote counted, Mr. Sarkozy had 53.1 percent and Ms. Royal 46.9 percent, according to official Interior Ministry figures.

Turnout was exceptionally high. Eighty-four percent of France’s 44.5 million registered voters cast ballots, about four percentage points higher than the level five years ago.

In an emotional acceptance speech to thousands of cheering supporters in a rented concert hall in the chic Eighth Arrondissement, Mr. Sarkozy (pronounced SAR-ko-zee) renewed his campaign pledge to break what he called the old, outmoded habits of France.

“The French people have chosen change,” Mr. Sarkozy declared. “I will implement that change. Because that is the mandate I received and because France needs change.”

Widely criticized in France for his strong pro-American sentiments, Mr. Sarkozy sought in his acceptance speech to strike a balanced approach to the United States.

Addressing France’s “American friends,” he said, “I want to tell them that France will always be by their side when they need her, but that friendship is also accepting the fact that friends can think differently.” .

He specifically criticized the United States for obstructing the fight against global warming, which he said would be a high priority.

President Bush telephoned Mr. Sarkozy to congratulate him, saying he “looks forward to working with president-elect Sarkozy as we continue our strong alliance,” Gordon D. Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said in a statement.

[...]

The election was a triumph of raw ambition, efficiency and political sleight-of-hand. The French president is an odd invention — part monarch and part elected politician. There is no other elected political office in Europe that comes with as much power and grandeur.

Mr. Sarkozy ran an extraordinarily disciplined campaign with a single message: change, but not too much to scare voters.

Mr. Sarkozy officially will assume office ten days from now, a few hours before Mr. Chirac’s mandate ends. In a formal meeting, Mr. Chirac will hand over the secret codes for France’s nuclear weapons.

There will be a 21-gun salute; the Marseillaise will be played.

The President of the Constitutional Council will read the results of the election. The Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor will make Mr. Sarkozy Grand Master of the Order.