Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy's New Presidential Plane Gets A Test Flight

Filed under: Wings

Looks like it will soon be wheels up for French President Nicolas Sarkozy. His new plane, a specially outfitted Airbus A330-200 has had its first test flight in Bordeaux. The $235 million plane is Sarkozy's answer to Air Force One (Obama rides in a Boeing 747-200) and comes with a 12-man meeting room, 60 business class seats, a bedroom for the president, a shower and an air filter system so he can smoke cigars. It is protected by a top-grade encrypted communications systems, a reinforced fuselage and missile decoy system. The ten-year-old plane was bought from Air Caraibes, the Caribbean airline. Two smaller A319s are currently used for the French President and will be sold. He has also ordered two Falcon 7Xs for smaller, shorter trips. One of the planes is reportedly named the Carla One after Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni.

According to an article in the Telegraph, the French government denies that the plane is an extravagance. A government spokesperson said that the plane isn't ostentatious but is "equipment fitting for the world's fifth power." Sarkozy has been under fire for his luxury spending before. His lavish trips around the world and time spent in private jets and on lavish yachts has raised eyebrows.

Tags: Airbus, Carla Bruni, carla bruni-sarkozy, france, Nicolas Sarkozy

Lagerfeld Receives The Légion D'honneur

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Ostentatious designer Karl Lagerfeld has has just been tapped to receive the Légion d'honneur, the highest decoration in France, on the eve of the latest Chanel fashion show in Paris. The honor, the full title of which is the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur ("National Order of the Legion of Honour") was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. Lagerfeld was notified of the honor prior to the fashion show by by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Vogue UK reports. A date for the official ceremony has yet to be set. Meanwhile, Lagerfeld has been chosen to photograph the next Pirelli calendar, the annual naked supermodel fest. "I'll do it in my studio in Paris," the designer declared. "It's too obvious to have a beach setting."

Tags: Chanel, France, Karl Lagerfeld, Nicolas Sarkozy, Pirelli Calendar

Carla Bruni's Castle Back on the Market for $28 Million, Estate of the Day

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Wealth

Back in February we reported that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the sexy supermodel, singer and first lady of France, had sold her family's castle in Italy (above) to an Arab sheikh. Now the buyer, who has since been revealed as billionaire Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has relisted the historic castle with an affiliate of Christie's Great Estates with a reported asking price of about $28 million; he was said to have originally paid anywhere from $12 million - $25 million depending on sources. The 40-room, 21,000-sq.-ft. Castello di Castagneto Po, near Turin, has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over the years but is believed to first date from the year 1019. Bruni's father, the billionaire industrialist Alberto Bruni Tedeschi, bought the historic estate in 1952 for about $1.5 million. It is surrounded by 175 acres replete with vegetable gardens, orchards, flowering terraces, ancient greenhouses, a caretaker's house and a farm building.

Gallery: Carla Bruni's Castle

Tags: billionaire, Carla Bruni, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, CarlaBruni, CarlaBruni-sarkozy, castle, Christies Great Estates, ChristiesGreatEstates, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, France, Italy, Nicolas Sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, PrinceAlwaleedBinTalal, Saudi Arabia, SaudiArabia

Sarkozy Names New Plane After His Wife

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Ships are often given the name of a lady but French president Nicolas Sarkozy has used his new jet to declare his love for his wife, Carla Bruni. Sarkozy has ordered several planes including a new Airbus A330-200 plane. The first plane is a Dassault Falcon 7X which has the new name 'Carla One' painted on the side. The French jet has 12 leather seats and teak desks with a red, white and blue details. His Airbus will include a meeting room for 12 people and seating for 60 passengers. Sarkozy is currently meeting with other world leaders at the G8 Summit but his new jet is in a hangar in Villacoublay airbase near Paris.

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Tags: carla bruni, CarlaBruni, dassault falcon 7x, DassaultFalcon7x, nicolas sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy's New Plane

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

France's fashionable leader Nicolas Sarkozy isn't going to let the economy stand in the way of his new plane. The London Times reports that Sarkozy will be getting a new Airbus A330-200 plane that is bigger than the planes used by other European leaders but not as big as President Obama's Boeing 747-200 otherwise known as Air Force One. The ten-year-old plane was bought from Air Caraibes, the Caribbean airline, and will be outfitted with desks for Sarkozy and a secretary, a meeting room for 12 people and seating for 60 passengers as well as a bedroom and a private bathroom.

Overall the cost of the plane is expected to be 176 million euros (around $227 million) including the refit and the plane should come into service next year. The Times article says that Sarkozy wanted a new plane but went with a used one to save money. The new plane is part of an official fleet in which six Falcon corporate jets will be swapped out for a pair of Falcon 7Xs and four Falcon 2000s.

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Tags: airbus, france, nicolas sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy, plane

Sarkozy's Love of Luxury Gets Him In Trouble Again

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Celebrity Shopping

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has once again raised eyebrows with his taste for luxury. Sarkozy and his lovely wife Carla Bruni spent a luxurious weekend at the El Tamarindo Beach and Golf Resorts in a one bedroom villa owned by a millionaire friend of Mexico's President Felipe Calderón. The villa has a private pool, outdoor Jacuzzi and comes with the services of a butler, cook and maid. The Telegraph reports that the overall cost for the weekend jaunt, including security, could be as much as £45,000. It is not known who paid for the stay but it seems not to have been the French government.

With France facing high unemployment and the possibility of a recession some are shocked by the president's vacation. The photogenic couple have spent the last couple of years globetrotting on adventures that included trips to Egypt, Brazil and most recently a ski vacation in February in the French resort of Megève. Sarkozy is in Mexico on business. He paid a state visit to Mexico and held talks with President Calderón about the global economic crisis. Calderon and his wife Margarita Zavala also took the French first lady and French President for a visit to the pyramids of Teotihuaca, Mexico where the picture above was taken.

Tags: carla bruni, CarlaBruni, felipe calderon, FelipeCalderon, mexico, nicolas sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy

Carla Bruni Sells Family Castle to Sheikh for $12 Million

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the sexy supermodel, singer and first lady of France, has sold her family's castle in Italy (above) to an Arab sheikh for about $12 million, the London Daily Mail reports. The 40-room Castello di Castagneto Po, near Turin, has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over the years but is believed to first date from the year 1019. Bruni's father, the billionaire industrialist Alberto Bruni Tedeschi, bought the castle-style mansion in 1952 for about $1.5 million. The contents of the house, include furniture and antiques, were auctioned off in London for another $13 million. The Italian-born Bruni married French President Nicolas Sarkozy last year and has renounced her ties to Italy. "We had finished with Castagneto Po – nobody went there any more," her mother Marisa Bruni Tedeschi, the castle's co-owner, tells the AFP.

Tags: Arab, Carla Bruni, CarlaBruni, Castle, France, Italy, nicolas sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy, Sheikh, Turin

Nude Photo of Sarkozy's Wife To Be Sold At Christie's

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Celebrity Shopping, Art

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is learning that one of the perils of marrying a beautiful model is that nude photos of your wife might easily surface. A black and white nude of the lovely Carla Bruni will be auctioned off to the highest bidder during an auction of the photography collector Gert Elfering at Christie's New York on April 10. The 13 x 10 1/8 inch gelatin silver black and white photograph was taken in 1993 and shows Bruni in all her glory with her hands discretely covering her nether regions (you can see the photo here, but it is not safe for work). The photo was taken by Michel Comte and is expected to bring in $3,000 to $4,000. Comte has said that he has many more pictures of Bruni, some more explicit, but that he will never put them up for sale.

UPDATE: The nude of Karla Bruni sold for $91,000.

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Tags: carla bruni, CarlaBruni, france, michel comte, MichelComte, nicolas sarkozy

Sarkozy Has Consistent Taste in Women, Jewelry

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Celebrity Shopping

The romance between France's president Nicolas Sarkozy and model/singer Carla Bruni has been captivating the gossips lately. The latest news involves a bit of jewelry spotting. Bruni has been seen wearing a heart-shaped Dior ring that is very similar to one owned by his ex-wife Cecilia. The rings are from Dior's Coeur Romantique collection. Sarkozy reportedly gave the the model a pair of earrings from Dior earlier in their courtship. Some have also remarked that the two women are similar in looks, both being angular cheekboned and leggy model brunettes. Many are predicting that the pair will marry soon even though they have only been dating since November.

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Tags: carla bruni, dior, engagement, france, jewelry, nicolas sarkozy

French President In Hot Water Over Private Jet Flight

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings, Celebrity Shopping

French president Nicolas Sarkozy has a lifestyle most celebrities would envy. Not only does he have a gorgeous model girlfriend who used to date rock stars, he also spent his Christmas holiday in Egypt. The French are notoriously tolerant of the leaders' foibles but Sarkozy found himself in a spot of trouble for flying to his getaway on the private jet of a billionaire businessman. Once again, Vincent Bollore is the billionaire in question. After his election in May, Sarkozy celebrated on Bollore's private yacht off Malta. Opposing political parties are concerned that the president's love of the jet set life may lead him into falling under the influence of rich men like Bollore. What's even more interesting is that Bollore, in addition to running a business empire with interests in freight, plastics, energy and logistics, also owns two free newspapers in France and has expressed interest in taking over the French domestic operation of US news agency AP. Sounds like Sarkozy should fly commercial next time.

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Tags: france, nicolas sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy, private jet

Nicolas Sarkozy

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