French first lady Carla Bruni reportedly is of two minds about her marriage to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and its effect on her pop music career.

"If people don't listen because I married the president of the republic, I understand," she said of her new album, Comme Si De Rien N'Etait (As If Nothing Happened), in a pre-release interview in Paris this morning. "If they do listen because I married the president of the republic, I will be delighted." 

Ms. Bruni knows how to walk the fine line between minx and missus. A Jackie O look-alike who met the Queen of England in a conservative Christian Dior gray suit and pillbox hat, the 40-year-old has had lovers including Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Jean-Paul Enthoven and his 26-year-old son, Raphaël.  read more »

Carla Bruni says she was seduced by Nicolas Sarkozy's "physique and intelligence" in a new book, Carla and Nicolas, The True Story. [P6]

Ethan Hawke can't get out of jury duty. [P6]  read more »

Until last Thursday, when a nude photograph of Carla Bruni, the 40-year-old model-turned-pop-star-turned-first lady of France, sold at Christie’s for $91,000, more than 20 times its expected price, Ms. Bruni hadn’t been the subject of much conversation among New Yorkers. But over the last week, her name popped out of pursed lips at cocktail lounges and long lunches across the city, as men and women started to catch on that a new icon of fashion, sex and sensibility—a 21st-century amalgam of Jackie O, Lady Di and J-Lo—was emerging across the Atlantic.  read more »

The future Mrs. Sarkozy may no longer have anything “future” about her. Carla Bruni, the 40-year-old former supermodel who has been dating recently-divorced French President Nicolas Sarkozy, reportedly married the politico last week. A French newspaper, L’Est Republicain, apparently “had good reason” to publish reports today that the doting duo have already tied the knot during a small ceremony at the Élysée Palace in Paris.

An unnamed “source close to a witness who attended the ceremony” reportedly contacted the media outlet to say that the wedding, a “small, very private” affair, was held in the presidential residence last Thursday. Mr. Sarkozy’s spokesman, David Martinon, declined to offer a comment on the, er, hearsay.

Recently, Mr. Sarkozy, 52, commented publicly on rumors of his forthcoming nuptials, saying, “There is a strong chance that you will learn about it once it's already been done.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy wiggled out of answering questions about his reported new flame, a singer and former model named Carla Bruni. While visiting a museum in the south of France today, Mr. Sarkozy, 52, who divorced his second wife last October, spoke to journalists about the area’s natural environs. In a move both bold and clever, a reporter jumped on the topical opportunity to squeeze fresh news from the imposing politico. “Speaking of the environment, I understand yours has changed,” they said to the figurehead. Upon hearing this, Mr. Sarkozy reportedly became tangled in the branches of a nearby tree, using the snag to end the Q&A session early.

His supposed romance with the 38-year-old heiress to a tire fortune has gripped the nation for the last two days, sparked when they were photographed together at Euro Disney over the weekend. At a press conference sometime later today, another reporter asked him if the media maelstrom surrounding the relationship irked him. “You want me to comment on the media?” Mr. Sarkozy asked in return. When he was pressed further, the president shot back: “No, I'm not bothered.” He was then rushed out of the room by his team of bodyguards.

Rumors of a return to trans-Atlantic harmony are premature for the moment.  read more »

Marie-Noëlle Pierce, a self-assured Franco-American (French father, American mother - she carries both passports) who is a director at the Foundation, ascended the stairs in a scorching red gown with a dramatic train. Her associate from the French office, clad in sensible shoes, stepped on it. "I heard a pop in the back," Ms. Pierce said moments later between sips of Pellegrino. She was steely yet jovial, an uncommon mix of emotions. "I hope it's going to hold up and I don't have a malfunction."

The Transom (check the name on our byline) ran into a couple of reporters from Source Media/Thomson Financial. And, by George, didn't one of them know our buddy, Nicholas Chesla, managing editor of The Bond Buyer, a Thomson newspaper. Nicholas is Australian, with a Polish father and English mother. "But have you met the boyfriend?" his curious cubicle-mate enquired.

-- Nicholas Boston

But over in France, the ambitious interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy has taken this to a near, er, level in response to the riots that have spread across the country.