Francois Hollande breaks protocol to kiss crowd as he is sworn in as president

FRANCOIS Hollande was sworn in as France’s president in a ceremony that saw the country’s first Socialist leader in 17 years arrive in an environmentally friendly Citroen during a rain-soaked ride to the presidential palace.

Mr Hollande’s suit was drenched within minutes as he headed for the Arc de Triomphe, and its monument to the unknown soldier, trailed by dozens of Republican Guardsmen on horseback and motorcycle.

The Socialist president, sticking to his campaign promises of being a more “normal” president, broke with protocol during a day full of symbolic events, walking over to the barricades to shake hands and kiss those in the cheering crowds.

As Mr Hollande arrived at the 18th-century Elysee Palace, the traditional residence of French presidents, he was greeted by outgoing president Mr Sarkozy.

The two men then held a 40-minute private meeting, during which tradition dictates that the new leader is handed the codes to France’s nuclear arsenal.

The former president then left the palace hand-in-hand with wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Former staff members, gathered in the palace courtyard, applauded loudly as Mr Sarkozy left, and fans gathered at the Elysee gates waving signs reading “Nicolas, merci!”

Meanwhile, the new president had asked that the inauguration ceremony be kept as low-key as possible, and invited just three dozen personal guests to join the 350 officials attending.

Mr Hollande, who has never been married, was joined for the Elysee ceremonies and in his motorcade car by his partner, the journalist Valerie Trierweiler.