Former first lady Bernadette Chirac offered her congratulations,adding that it was helpful for a president to have a spouse.”It’s better to have a companion to whom you can say what you need to say and can’t say to everyone,” she told RTL radio. “You need a punching ball.”

Sarkozy and Bruni went public with their relationship during a visit to Disneyland in Paris, and they carried out their brief but highly publicized courtship in such places as the ruins of Petra, Jordan. The tabloids even showed the couple at an Egyptian beach resort, Bruni clad in a tiny black bikini, Sarkozy in trunks, gold chain and Ray-Bans.

Sarkozy’s approval ratings dropped during their courtship — in part, analysts say, because many older, more traditional voters were put off by the time he was spending on his romance, as well as by his glitzy, jet-setting style.

During their courtship, Sarkozy was nicknamed the “bling-bling president” by the media. He reportedly gave Bruni a pink heart-shaped diamond Dior engagement ring, while she gave him a Swiss-made Patek Philippe watch.

The wedding was the third for Sarkozy, who has three sons. It was the first for Bruni, an Italian-born heiress who had a major modeling career and a well-publicized love life. Bruni, now a singer, dated rockers Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, tycoon Donald Trump and actor Vincent Perez. She has a young son, Aurelien, from a relationship with philosophy professor Raphael Enthoven.