France is back !

I have probably spent the most exciting 48 hours in my life. It starts with a phone call from President Sarkozy's office last week as I was home having my breakfast in San Francisco. "President Sarkozy would like your presence during his visit to the White House and the Congress of the United States". Sit down and relax. Your brain starts suddenly working differently and in a fraction of a second, after having analyzed this was nor a joke neither a dream, you say yes without even thinking about it. This feeling is just impossible to describe, feeling honored and friendship at the same time.

The team of the Elysee, our White House, starts working. And when you have not touched politics at that level from the inside, which was my case only a year ago, you have what we call a "cliche" in France, a mind representation that for some reason public service does not work as hard as business. Everything I have seen for now almost a year around Nicolas Sarkozy has been the opposite. People kill themselves to help him, France, and aldo to help you if they also consider you help the cause. They word day and night and many of President Sarkozy's team have impressed me by their efficiency their commitment and dedication. Most of them would succeed in a fantastic way in business, it was just not their choice or their destiny. I am thinking about the campaign of course. I am thinking about the campaign and how a huge team of both supporters and team members coordinate nationwide. I am thinking of the closest advisors of President Sarkozy that I have seen work and I learnt so much from them. The knowledge of these people of the World history and France is above anything I could imagine. The smallest detail is dealt with like swiss horlogerie, the security service for example.

At the beginning of my involvement to help Nicolas Sarkozy, I did not know anybody around him and did not know him either, I just felt he was the best choice for France. You know those feelings you immediately have about somebody you have not ever met. I learnt to know first his team and more and more the President himself. Nicolas Sarkozy impresses me more and more as I get to know him.

During his speech at the Congress, President Sarkozy made history. It was mindblowing. It starts by the Congress room packed to the very last seat and as the President enters the room the entire Congress stands up and people do not stop claping their hands for 3 to 5 minutes. I regret I was not allowed to take any picture or video because I do not having been impressed that much by a room. We could feel the US power in the room. I could not help thinking that a large part of the future of the World was decided in this room. My own feelings are extremely difficult to describe. I was proud. Immensely proud. Proud to be French. Feeling that France was back again embodied by our President. I was actually feeling that he was not our President but my President. I remember too much these freedom fries jokes and the americans describing France as a good place to have dinner only. Joking on how ridiculously inefficient we are with our strikes and our 35-hours a week law. I love America. Most of my friends have Americans, but each joke about the freedom fries makes you feel bad. Today we are definitely back. Each time the President wants to start his speech they clap even more. Finally President Sarkozy starts his speech and I could not count how many standing ovations and speech interruptions he went through as the entire room stood up and applauded again, I would say about twenty times.

President Sarkozy reminded ourselves the long term friendship between the French and the American people. Lafayette and Washington. President Sarkozy started explaining what he liked or we, French, admired about the US. Presdient Sarkozy refreshed our memories that the US in 1944 came to free us and then the Marshall Plan helped us rebuild Europe, what would we be today without the US involvement. But the most touching par for me was that President Sarkozy dared to say what is generally unacceptable in public opinion in France, that the US has been and still is a model in so many aspects. In its way to have people used not to expect anything from their Nation but used to create and only expecting that the US will give them an environment making success possible. An environment where everybody understands that nothing comes for free and it is the entrepreneurship, risk taking and efforts that gets someone to succeed. I believe so much in this point. I think the French have been to used being assisted by the State in anyway possible that they forgot to take risk. September 11th has been a key part of the speech, "We were all Americans" that day.

President Sarkozy then talked, obviously, about Irak. Talking about friendship and describing what was friendship for him. A friend is someone that you sometimes disagree but who will always be supporting you in case you need him. This foundation of friendship is more important than the fact you can sometimes disagree about something. Like war in Irak. President Sarkozy said France would always be behind America, remembering again the American soldiers who died to free us in 1944.

You will understand easily I did not blog too much this ride because I was there in the official delegation as a friend of the President. I was not there as press to report or do buzz around him. Actually I could have chosen not to share anything on my blog as each time I talk about politics of course many people who do not see the World the same way as I do start reacting, some start insulting too. It is risky for my business to share this trip but I still decided to do so. If I had blogged too much I would have been misbehaving and also misrepresenting us in a way.... What would everybody think of someone whose only goal is to video tape everything ? More important, very often I was with the closest team members of the President, sometimes with him. Respect starts by not sharing confidential conversations or more important, breaking trust.

Trust is again, the most important. Each time I have been close to the President and his team without any press or unknown people around us, another type of dialog started. The conversation you can only get when you are a friend. You know, the one you have with your family or your closest friends. This one is not made to be shared. So I won't share that part. I won't share the comments I heard in the official cars as we were going from one meeting to another. Like the debrief from the President and the team. The comments about the way the meeting went between President Bush and President Sarkozy. Everything I heard is hugely positive and full of hope. Again, it makes me feel proud to be French. I have been waiting for this tipping point of hope that France would wake up for a long time and this is why I supported him so strongly. I enjoyed like a juicy fruit the moments I saw the President talking to me as a friend. Those moments cannot be shared.

Entering the White House as a friend of the French President is weird. Having President Bush and Laura Bush welcoming you themselves, one guest at a time, taking the time for a short conversation is difficult to describe again as it was so intense. A picture is the only thing I have to share, that I can't help but posting again. Thank you for all your questions suggestions, I actually took my friend Dave Winer' advise about this "there is nothing you can do anyway, so just enjoy and relax".

Why should all the French be proud of their President and happy that this trip meant so much in the history of the two Countries ? Lots to say but here are two immediate effects I see. Business in France and restored trust backed by deep reforms in France means that US companies will tend to start investing more again in France. I personally thanked Eric Schmidt of Google for taking the time to meet my President and meet him. Google will likely invest more in France, they are already big in France but I bet they will invest more. Remember what Jacques Chirac's approach was: trying to build a stupid search engine, Quaero, dead as I announced years ago. Trying to give lessons to Google by not letting them digitize the french libraries was the best way for French culture not to keep its rank in the World. This is all over. If there is more Google in France, there will be more innovation and more startups. This is an obvious example.

Let's now take the effects in the US of the two Countries getting on like friends. Easy. The French will have an improved business image in the US and therefore probably grow there faster. Having myself moved to the US and feeling everyday the friendship I have been talking about, I can say that a good image of France as a Country of entrepreneurs and growth, dynamic public sector and a President and Government committed to change what needs to improve helps in an amazing way.

So when I had a TV crew from the large French Channel Canal+ jump on me in between two meetings in an aggressive way that it was probably not good that we have a pro-American President I was disgusted. This is so stupid that I did not even answer much. Criticizing the first ever President since I was born who has the guts to make change and restore trust between the US or get 20 standing ovations at the US Congress is just going against France. The campaign is over these stupid journalists should wake up and stop criticizing themselves and think about building too rather than spending their time criticizing and entertain what's remaining from the France of the past, complaining and asking for more public help all the time, going on strike and asking for always less work. Anyway let's not talk about the negative, it's not interesting. If you ever read me, journalists having this state of mind, I just want to tell you that you are working against yourselves, against all of us French, and should just shut up and ask yourselves what you are doing for your Country having this attitude. Fortunately sometimes you make it fun.

Check the video there is more and if you have questions or comments I will be happy to answer them.

And finally some photos of the trip.