The press following the President across Europe wouldn't let the No Dinner With Sarkozy issue go, and kept asking questions about the intense policy implications of the perceived snub.“What it means is that I have a very tough schedule,” President Obama said. “I would love nothing more than to have a leisurely week in Paris, stroll down the Seine, take my wife out to a nice meal, have a picnic in Luxembourg Gardens...Those days are over — for the moment.”
French President Nicolas Sarkozy refuted the "snub" to the media, too, and managed to work in a brilliant foodie metaphor for presidential schedules.
“Do you think that we don’t have enough on our plate to do without spending time to have our pictures taken?” Mr. Sarkozy told reporters. “Do you think our prime concern is what glossy magazine we’ll be pictured in, or what restaurant we’re going to go and spend an evening in, or whether we spend an extra night here or not?”
Photo via Reuters: President Obama and President Sarkozy lock hands during a bilateral meeting at The Prefecture in France June 6, 2009.
