Clad only in swim trunks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday lashed out at two US news photographers—screaming at them in French to scram—while he was vacationing with his family on a New Hampshire lake. "The president was very agitated, speaking French at a loud volume very rapidly," said one of the photographers.
Sarkozy was headed into open water when he spotted the two journalists on a boat. He redirected his boat toward them and jumped on board to scold them. At first "he was smiling," said an AP photographer who had permission from a security patrol boat to be nearby. "Then he noticed us taking pictures and his happy demeanor diminished immediately." (More New Hampshire stories.)