A rabbit story - Watch and Think (80)
Voici une petite histoire que j'ai lu ce matin et qui m'a fait sourire!
Here is a little story I read this morning and made me laugh!
Mr Sarkozy invited Craig Stapleton to see him in 2006 to say how proud he was to meet President George W Bush.
He later introduced his nine-year-old son, Louis, who had "a small dog at his feet and a large rabbit in his arms".
When Louis put the rabbit down to shake hands, the dog started chasing it. Mr Sarkozy then had to run after the pets.
The incident is described in one of the 251,287 classified cables the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks says it has obtained and shared with several newspapers.
The "rare glimpse of a relaxed Sarkozy" came when Mr Stapleton visited the then interior minister at his office at Place Beauvau in Paris.
"Sarkozy went to the line of floor-to-ceiling windows that open from the interior minister's office to the gardens of the interior ministry, and called over... Louis, who was playing on the lawn," the cable says.
"Louis appeared at the threshold with a small dog at his feet and a large rabbit in his arms," it adds.
"To shake hands with the ambassador, Louis put down the rabbit - and the dog started chasing the rabbit through Sarkozy's office, which led to the unforgettable sight of Sarkozy, bent over, chasing the dog through the ante-room to his office as the dog chased the rabbit, and Louis filled the room with gleeful laughter."
En 2006, Nicolas Sarkozy, alors ministre de l'Intérieur, recevait la visite de l'ambassadeur américain à Paris. Craig Stapleton se trouvait en compagnie du futur président français, qui se préparait à annoncer sa candidature, quand celui-ci appela, depuis par la fenêtre de son bureau, son fils Louis, 9 ans, qui jouait dans les jardins du ministère.
"Sarkozy était manifestement content - et fier - d'être accompagné de son jeune fils, et semblait ravi de pouvoir lui présenter l'ambassadeur des Etats-Unis", rapporte la note diplomatique. "Louis est apparu à l'entrée avec un petit chien à ses pieds et un gros lapin dans les bras.
Pour serrer la main de l'ambassadeur, Louis a posé à terre le lapin, que le chien a commencé à courser depuis l'antichambre jusque dans le bureau de Sarkozy, ce qui conduisit au spectacle mémorable de Sarkozy courant, penché, pour attraper le chien, lequel courait après le lapin, pendant que Louis riait aux éclats dans le bureau", raconte la note.