Froideur and rain for France's new dawn

Officially, Nicolas Sarkozy is 5ft 5in tall - two inches shorter than Francois Hollande. But the outgoing president's extravagant Cuban heels, left, ensured that he could at least look his Socialist replacement in the eye when handing over the keys to the Elysee.

France knew change was afoot at the pinnacle of state on Tuesday as its new leader swapped his trademark scooter for a modest upgrade to an eco-friendly hybrid Citroen.

Francois Hollande had warned the country not to expect glitz and glamour at what he promised would be a sobre ceremony to swear him in as the 24th President of the French Republic.

While he could not eradicate all the pomp, his radical change in style after five high-octane years under Nicolas Sarkozy was signalled when he crawled into the Elysee Palace's palatial courtyard in a modest family saloon.

The bespectacled Socialist walked purposefully up the steps to claim the throne of what many call France's "republican monarchy", while Sarkozy looked balefully down from the main entrance.

Thanks to his trademark stack heels, the diminutive outgoing leader scored one small but significant final victory against the man who ousted him from office after just one term: he appeared a whisker taller.

But Hollande instantly regained the upper hand by shooting him a frosty look, chillier than the spring morning breeze, before striding into the 365-room palace that will be his home for the next five years.

But if his journey to accept the mantle of French leadership was modestly low key, his first hours as the country's leader were dramatically buffeted by the elements.

Storm clouds gathered as he reviewed troops in the palace gardens and the traditional 21 shots were fired from cannon at the Invalides over the Seine, home to Napoleon's tomb.

The heavens then opened on the Champs-Elysees as Hollande waved to the sparse crowds from his open-topped car, guardsmen on horseback and motorcycles in tow but not a brolly in sight.

Drenched but apparently unfazed, he headed for the Arc de Triomphe, and its monument to the unknown soldier.

After his rain-soaked victory lap, a sodden Hollande laughed off the lashing. When asked whether he was afraid of the rain, he replied: "I am not afraid of anything."

But worse was to come when Hollande boarded the French presidential jet to travel to Berlin. Four minutes into the flight, his aircraft was struck by lightning. With Greece imploding, it was not unfair to ask if the Gods were sending a shot across his bows.

Ironically, the main business between Sarkozy and Hollande was a private meeting in which the new incumbent received the nuclear codes that permit him to launch a strike. Little is known about what previous presidents have discussed in this historic meeting, although Francois Mitterrand is reported to have asked his successor, Jacques Chirac, to take care of the palace ducks.

Once that was done they resurfaced with their partners - Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the former model who look relaxed and relieved in crumpled black trousers and jacket and white top, and Valerie Trierweiler, France's first unmarried first lady, in an off-white jacket, sheer-sleeved black dress and perilously high heels.

The first ladies past and present were the only family members at the Elysee. The scenes amounted to a sea change from the Kennedy-style get-together with which Sarkozy stunned France in 2007. Back then, Sarkozy had barely restrained himself from bounding up the palace steps. Cecilia, his second wife whom he would soon divorce, was the centrepiece of a glamorous first family in Prada dress and purple eyeliner, surrounded by three blond-locked sons and two step- daughters.

Yesterday, neither Hollande's four children nor their mother, Segolene Royal, a former presidential candidate, were among the three dozen or so personal guests joining 350 officials in the gilded Salle des Fetes. Aides said he did not want to blur the lines between public and private life.

The Sarkozys were then shown the door. While the two women managed a heartfelt parting embrace, the men's farewell was anything but effusive, with Hollande briskly turning away without a backward glance as the palace's former power couple walked down the steps hand-in-hand.

To cries of "Nicolas, merci!", the Sarkozy era ended as he and his wife were chauffered out of the gates and off the political map, perhaps for good.

Inside, Hollande was proclaimed president of "all the French" and received the insignia of the Grand Croix and the necklace of the Great Master of the Order of the Legion of Honour, a gold collar weighing 2lb engraved with his name and those of the six previous presidents of the Fifth Republic.

Hollande then laid siege to Sarkozy's legacy as he promised to govern with "dignity but simplicity" and that his government would demonstrate "scrupulous sobriety in behaviour".

In a shot across the bows of Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, whom he would quickly leave Paris to meet, he then promised his election would open a "new path for Europe".

"To our partners I will propose a new pact that will combine the necessary reduction of public debt with indispensible economic stimulous," he said. Now Merkel's ears were buzzing. The new president then shook hands with the throng, his lady keeping a respectful distance behind him. Not a kiss was exchanged throughout the day.

Among the guests were 10 French Nobel Prize winners, a brochette of former Socialist prime ministers, and a cast of potential cabinet ministers.

The knowing smiles from some spoke volumes. Among that group was Jean-Marc Ayrault, head of the Socialist parliamentary group and mayor of Nantes, who was named prime minister shortly afterwards. But Hollande will need more than smiles to bend Merkel to his will and keep the notoriously rebellious French on his side for the next five years.