Francois Hollande Invested as President of France and Oh the Faux Pas

It was a big day for the French. The "Passation" of power, as it is called in French, from Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy to Socialist Francois Hollande took most of the day on French TV.
Hollande arrived at the Palais d'Elysée at 10 am and was greeted by Sarkozy at the entry stairs. First error - Hollande did not, as is the custom, walk with Nicolas and Carla Sarkozy to their car as they left the presidential palace. Was he snubbing them, the TV commentators asked.
Holland's four children were not present as he signed the book making him president of France. His ex-companion and mother of his children, Segolene Royale (who was the Socialist candidate defeated by Sarkozy in 2007 when he became president) explained that the children didn't want to be compared to the parade at Sarkozy's investiture when his children from several marriages, as well as some of their mothers, were present. Of course, the French took the opportunity to ask when Hollande is going to marry his "concubine" and become a real French president - wife and all.
At 2pm Hollande went to a public garden and gave his first "homage" to Jules Ferry, whose statue is in the garden. Ferry is the father of the French public school system, and also stripped it away from its religious past and admitted girls. So, he is somewhat of a hero. BUT, Ferry also was a staunch supporter of French colonialism and many civil rights activists were angered by Hollande's move to honor him.
From Ferry's garden, Hollande went to the Fifth Arrondissement (a precinct of Paris) and honored Nobel Laureate Marie Curie, who discovered radium. He laid a wreath at her and her husband's grave. Pierre Curie was also a Nobel Laureate who worked with his wife, Marie, on the radium program. Hitch - Marie Curie was born in Poland and went to France for political reasons. She was made a citizen, but, wags wondered if there wasn't a "real" French scientist who could have been honored instead.
From the Curie Institute, Hollande's cavalcade went to the Paris Mayor's palace. This is truly a splendid building which would make the Medicis jealous. Paris is presided over by a Socialist Mayor, so everything was cozy. The Mayor of Paris always receives the new President - almost to give him the right to stay in Paris and rule France - and today was no exception, with Mayor Delanoé heaping lavish praise on his city, as he rightly should since Paris is probably the most beautiful city in the world. Then, it was Hollande's turn to speak, and among other things, he said that he was born in Normandy and entered government from a southern department called Correze, but that he had lived in Paris a long time and considered himself Parisian. Oops - everyone outside Paris was offended. You see, most French don't like Parisians, considering them arrogant and impolite (sound familiar?).
So far, President Hollande's day is not going great.
But, it was now time to get on his jet and head to Berlin to schmooze with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It was still raining - poor Hollande ruined two suits by walking or riding in open cars as he made his rounds because it poured and even hailed at one point during his visits. His private plane took off and was struck by lightning four minutes into the flight. Back to the military airport to change planes. Someone called ahead to tell the Chancellor he'd be an hour late.
But, he finally arrived in Berlin and the two heads of government had their private meeting. A press conference followed. Now, Hollande campaigned on renegotiating the Eurozone austerity treaty and focusing on growth in the Eurozone, and Merkel continually said it would not happen, and even voiced her preference for a Sarkozy victory. At the press conference, the two were definitely not happy campers - and the wound is obviously still open.
One last item. Hollande named the head of the Socialist National Assembly caucus as Prime Minister. One of his qualifications mentioned is that he speaks fluent German. You guessed it. The French media and conservative pundits said, "Since when is speaking German a reason to be named France's Prime Minister?"
Welcome to Paris, President Hollande. It surely has to get better soon, but maybe you ought to hire a PR type who understands what to say when one is resident in the Parisian French presidential palace.