Sunday February 10, 2008:
I slept in until 9:15 today, but I wanted to sleep longer. I didn't want Colette to think I was a crazy all-night party girl, so I got up and ate breakfast with her and went for a run.
It was a beautiful day out...it was so warm and sunny. I went to an antique market in town for a little while and did homework for the rest of the day.
At night Sarcozy gave a speech on the Lisbon treaty. Although I couldn't understand everything that was being said, I made note of how the speech was conducted as a whole. He was standing, rather than seated at a desk, and his hands were flying all over the place in emphasis and gesture. Very different from the American presidents' seated and movement-less speeches. For me it had a more personal and familiar effect, rather than being separated from the head of state by a massive wooden barrier of a desk and watching him sit perfectly and politely still. It seems like the French way is more as if he is talking straight to you. I wonder if the French feel that way when they watch him. It seems with their strong engagement in politics that he has to be so much closer to them. And the French strong sentiment of egalitarianism might contribute to that too.
