France may recently have suffered a credit agency downgrade, but President Nicol as Sarkozy's triple-A lifestyle in the

Elyse Palace has been skewered in a new bo ok. Why should the French presidency, under Mr Sarkozy, operate twice as many cars a s before? Why should President Sarkozy spend twice as much time travelling as hi s predecessor, President Jacques Chirac? Why does Mr Sarkozy spend an average of more than three hours a day in an aircraft? L'Argent de l'Etat by Ren Dosire, an opposition Socialist politician who has chose n to publish the book less than three months before the presidential election, r aises some awkward questions about the spending of both President Sarkozy and hi s Prime Minister Franois Fillon, at a time when national and local budgets are be ing squeezed. Mr Dosire, a veteran campaigner against state extravagance, gives Mr Sarkozy cred it where it is due. Unlike his predecessors, the President publishes an annual b udget 113m a year for the expenses of the Elyse Palace. Nonetheless, some bizarre and intriguing facts emerge. The Sarkozy Elyse operates 121 cars, compared to 55 under Mr Chirac. President Sarkozy travels twice as mu ch as his predecessor. Since the beginning of his presidency, he has spent avera ge of 24 hours a week in the air. About 10,000 a day is spent on food. You may think a French President should occasionally take one of the country's h igh-speed trains. In fact, for security and cost reasons, this is impossible. An ancient rule demands a policeman must stand beside every railway bridge. As it is, every provincial trip by the President costs an average of 600,000,. Mr Sarkozy's love of summitry is also examined by Mr Dosire. In 2008, the Preside nt hosted a two-hour long summit which cost the French taxpayer 17m the equivalen t of 58,000 a minute.