Macron takes office this weekend

Emmanuel Macron's will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday, May 15, the day after he is inaugurated as President of France.

Mr Macron's first official trip as France's head of state will take place little more than 24 hours after the ceremony. The two leaders have met recently, when Mr Macron was on the campaign trail in March.

His inauguration ceremony takes place a week after he was elected to office in a second-round run-off with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

Following a brief private meeting with Mr Hollande, Mr Macron and his wife Brigitte Trogneux will head to the inauguration ceremony at the Elysée Palace, accompanied by current Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and the presidents of both houses of parliament, the Assembly and the Senate.

Mr Hollande, meanwhile, will leave the presidential palace accompanied by the Republican Guard. Officially, his presidency will end at midnight on Sunday.

At the ceremony, Mr Macron will sign the minutes of investiture and receive the insignia of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. The new president is then expected to give an inaugural address, after which he will observe a 21-gun salute on the terrace of the Elysée, as part of the traditional military honours for the incoming head of state.

Later, he will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe, before meeting Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo at City Hall.