"I can confirm that he has arrived yesterday (Thursday) evening," George Hutchinson, whose Yankee Pedlar agency is renting a residence to Sarkozy in the town of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, told AFP.
As offices in France empty for the traditional long August break, the country's leader has chosen a leafy corner of New England over sunny French spots such as the Bregancon fort, his official residence by the Mediterranean.
In Paris, the presidency said Sarkozy, his wife Cecilia and their children had been invited by friends, without specifying how long the visit would last or confirming the exact location.
"Mr and Mrs Sarkozy are on holiday at the invitation of friends, in a house on a lake two hours' drive from Boston," Sarkozy's office said.
"They traveled there as a family on a regular flight."
The Boston Globe earlier said the buzz around Wolfeboro was that Sarkozy had rented a 1,200 square meter (13,200 square foot) house belonging to Mike Appe, a former official of Microsoft.
It is the first summer break Sarkozy has taken since becoming president in May. He has said he hopes to strengthen France's relations with the United States.
Rene Dosiere of France's opposition Socialists demanded to know who was paying for the holiday, after French newspapers reported that the house Sarkozy was visiting cost some 30,000 dollars a week.
Wolfeboro, a leafy, quiet town of some 6,000 people by the Winnipesaukee lake in this northeastern state, is said to be the country's oldest summer resort.
Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco used to holiday here, as did the late US author Kurt Vonnegut.
Hutchinson declined to give further details of Sarkozy's holiday house. "We respect the privacy of our clients," he told AFP. "Some of our clients are as important as your president."
That’s good. Hope he and his family have a good time here.
I wonder what skills he is going to acquire before he leaves.
I’m very happy for France. I hope he can meet the high expectations of the long suffering conservative in your country.
This is going to PO a lot of French people.
Plus, what about all those abandonned elderly French people left to die with no AC?
What was the death toll? Didn’t really hear too much about that from Michael Moore did we?
Looks like a nice area to relax.
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Amazing that we have to learn about this from a Chinese newspaper?!!
Is the NT Times and the rest of our MSM too busy shilling for Hillary to know when major Foreign leaders come to the U.S.? Bet if it were Castro or Chavez they would have covered it
Apparently, the Chinese reporter thinks he is in NH for a new “VOCATION”.
I love this guy.
There are locations along the Upper Missouri River in Montana and North Dakota that have been used as summer resorts for thousands of years.
ping
If Hillary becomes Empress of America perhaps she and Bill can stay at Versailles where she can harass the haughty peasants while Bill goes cavorting in the gardens with her ladies in waiting.