How 'a Million Little Kisses' Might Have Left Lipstick on Sarkozy's Collar

It is the question all France wants answered: who sent 'a million little kisses' apparently to President Nicolas Sarkozy? The answer may lie in the detail of French grammar.

The phrase comes from a letter in a bundle of documents clearly visible under the President's arm in a photo taken on the steps of the Elysée Palace this month.

The letter, illegible to start with, has been blown up by inquisitive journalists and read.

In bistros and bars across the country, the identity of the writer and the recipient of the phrase 'I have the feeling that I haven't seen you for an eternity and I miss you ... a million little kisses,' has supplanted the Rugby World Cup as the chief topic of conversation.

Though France's strict privacy laws have prevented many of the more lurid explanations for the presence of the billet doux in presidential hands being published, Sarkozy's history of marital difficulties - his glamorous and independent wife Cecilia briefly left him two years ago - has fueled speculation.

The Elysée Palace was remaining tight-lipped this weekend. 'Why did the head of state have it with him? I don't know,' David Martinon, a presidential spokesman, said drily.

The official answer is that the letter was in fact addressed to Cecilia and not the President at all. Nor was it a love letter but written by one of her oldest friends, Isabelle Balkany, the wife of a conservative politician.

Sarkozy's critics suspect a whitewash. After one tabloid, Choc, suddenly decided against publication of a clear picture of the letter hours before going to print last week, the left-wing newspaper Liberation suggested it had been pressed by its owner, a close associate of the President.

'One mystery remains,' the newspaper said, pointing the reader at the technicalities of the French language and a particular mixture of pronouns, past participles and the masculine and feminine genders.

The apparently killer phrase is 'I feel like I have not seen you for ages' or 'j'ai l'impression de ne pas t'avoir vu' in the original.

If Cecilia Sarkozy was really the intended recipient, the newspaper asked, did her highly educated friend make an elementary mistake and leave out the feminine ending on the 'vu'?

Or was the letter in fact addressed to a man?