Nicolas Sarkozy quitte l'Elysée au bras de son... par LeNouvelObservateur
Francois Hollande has become the 24th president of the French Republic following a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in central Paris.
This is a crucial day for French politics:
-Watch the passage of power between François Hollande and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the video above.
-Germanophile Jean-Marc Ayrault, a former German teacher with close contacts in Berlin, is expected to be named prime minister later in the day.
-Hollande’s attentions will now turn to Berlin, where he will fly later in the day to meet with his German counterpart Angela Merkel for showdown talks on austerity and growth in Europe. The first "Merkollande" meeting in Berlin is one of the most crucial ever for the fate of the single currency.
