Quiet Paris visit for Democrat Obama

US presidential candidate Barack Obama’s meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy will be a far cry from his Berlin rally.

Obama's will briefly meet the president in Paris before leaving for London soon afterwards.

Obama tops public opinion polls in France, like many European countries, as the man they would most like to see elected president.

While his speech on improving ties with Europe in Berlin was watched by around 200,000 people, there will be no similar event in France.

There are few votes for any US presidential candidate who get too close to the country.

In 2004, Democrat nominee John Kerry, was mocked by the American right because he could speak French.

France will be the only nation in Obama's three-state European tour, where he does not spend a night and apart from a brief press conference he is not scheduled to make any public appearances.

Obama told CBS television: “The objective of this trip was to have substantive discussions with people like President Karzai or Prime Minister Maliki or President Sarkozy or others, who I expect to be dealing with over the next eight to 10 years."

Sarkozy met Republican presidential contender John McCain in March while he was visiting France. McCain stressed that the United States must listen more to its European allies.

Photo:Jurvetson