Poor Nicolas Sarkozy! When he promised to be president of a France that "wakes up early," he didn't realize that he might have to give up sleeping late. And when he declared on the campaign trail that he'd cut off the golden parachutes of failed CEOs, it wasn't readily apparent that people might examine the gilded gifts that CEOs offer him. Nor, it seems, did a candidate who promised to make the French work more and harder--and with a thinner social services net--conclude that he might need to forego the extravagant tastes long granted to French presidents in favor of a more sober presidency. After learning on May 6 that he would become France's next president, Sarkozy and his family retired to the palatial Hotel Fouquet's Barrière on the Champs Élysées, with its sleek and elegant suites at rates from 1,500-2,000 euros ($2,000-$2,700). The next day, they were transported to an airstrip at Bourget, outside of Paris, where a luxurious Falcon 900 EX jet zipped them off to Malta. Sarkozy may have campaigned on increasing the purchasing power of the French, but such a round-trip journey--including an elaborate in-flight meal--is hardly a bargain at more than 80,000 euros (about $108,000). Fortunately, the jet is owned by a company run by his longtime industrialist friend Vincent Bolloré.

Ever the glad-hander, Sarkozy ignored the VIP arrival's section at the Maltese airport and joined with the common travelers, according to a detailed report in Le Parisien, the USA Today-like French publication. But he and his family returned to the lap of billionaire luxury soon after when they boarded the Paloma, a 2.5-million-euro 60-square-meter über-luxury yacht. The multilevel cruiser, with its 12 cabins, Jacuzzi, four plasma-screen televisions and stunning array of additional accessories, was upgraded in a 5-million-euro renovation a few years back, according to the Parisien, which took relish in the details. But Sarkozy's increase-the-purchasing-power discourse took another hit when word hit the French press and television that the yacht rents for 173,693 euros (more than $235,000) per week--in low season anyway. (If he'd waited until high season, the week would have cost another 20,000 euros.) Fortunately, the boat trip was a gift from Bolloré, as both the industrialist and Sarkozy later made clear. The high style of the sejour spurred no less of a luxury authority than Italian billionaire (and former conservative prime minister) Silvio Berlusconi to comment that "Sarkozy has taken me as a model." Yes, the Parisien picked up that quote, too. And yes, President-elect Sarkozy has finally made the big leagues.

But to the president-elect's surprise, when word--and paparazzi photos--of his "Yacht People" vacation spurred political enemies to criticize his billionaire-style holiday as "indecent" and "shameless," the former minister of finance, as usual, refused to back down. "I have no intention of apologizing," he told Europe-1 radio by mobile phone. "I'm taking two-and-a-half days. I don't think anyone can argue with that." But the issue even seemed to chase him out onto his Maltese jog, where he told a flock of journalists: "I have no intention of hiding myself. I don't intend to lie. I don't intend to excuse myself." He was confident that there would be no misinterpretation. "The French are very lucid people who reason and who know - the reality of things." The reality, of course, is that Sarkozy has just completed a relentless six-month presidential campaign - or was it eight years--as he began plotting his detailed path to the presidency at the end of the last century. And in Sarkozy's France, such a relentless worker clearly deserves a break? Although not a very long one, it seems.

The yapping back in Paris spurred the president-elect to come home late Wednesday night, well ahead of schedule. So it's back to pre-presidential work, including a ceremony to commemorate the end of slavery alongside President Jacques Chirac on Thursday. (Sarkozy had planned to miss the event, as he spent part of his campaign encouraging the French to stop flogging themselves over the murkier aspects of their colonial history.) On Friday, he's set to meet with outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair to talk about a simplified EU treaty to get the European project back on track. Sarkozy may even join President Chirac at the French Cup soccer final in Marseille, even as he oversees the creation of the first Sarkozy government and helps to choose replacements for himself in the various party and political positions that he still holds. Blair and Chirac, of course, can handle the schedule, as they're both on the verge of retiring as heads of state, but poor Sarkozy has five long and tiring years ahead of him.