AFP - US President Barack Obama landed late Friday in France where he is to attend international ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of World War II D-day landings.
Obama arrived on Air Force One at Orly airport at 9:13
pm (1913 GMT), after visiting a former Nazi camp in Germany, and was met on the
tarmac by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.
As Obama travelled in
to Paris the US First Lady Michelle Obama and her young daughters Malia, 10, and
Sasha, seven,
The president and his
family were to spend Friday night at the US embassy in Paris, before travelling
to the north of France Saturday.
On the eve of France's participation in
the European Parliament
Obama's great-uncle, Charlie Payne, 84 and frail but
among the liberators of the Buchenwald camp complex the president visited in
central Germany, will join Obama's party in Normandy.
Further visits to
Paris' Notre Dame cathedral and the Pompidou centre are also on the menu along
with a dinner with Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy before returning to
the US.
France 24
My heart goes out to our President who at least tries to befriend everyone. His task to re-establish good relations with Europe and the rest of the world seemed so daunting, yet he moves through his visits so effortlessly and is not afraid to show brute honesty. This is the audacity of hope...
