London, June 4 (ANI): Nicolas Sarkozy is reportedly "bored" after spending a three-week post-election break with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and children in Morocco in which he was constantly on the phone with politicians back in France.
Sarkozy along with his wife and their daughter Giulia, returned to Paris on Saturday, where he was spotted jogging in the Bois de Boulogne, after unwinding at King Mohammed VI's expense in one of his luxury private residences in Marrakesh.
One of his closest friends, Brice Hortefeux, insisted that the Right-winger intends to remain "durably discreet" after losing to Socialist Francois Hollande in his presidential re-election bid on May 6.
"He is naturally concerned by the situation in Europe, but remains removed, voluntarily and durably from all political preoccupation," the Telegraph quoted him as telling France 3.
After spending the rest of the month in Paris, the 57-year-old will visit along with his wife to her Riviera retreat in Cap N�gre for the following two months.
One friend predicted, that playing hard to get would soon see the French missing Sarkzoy, the country's most unpopular President at the end of a first term.
"In a year, he'll be as popular as (Jacques) Chirac," Le Journal du Dimanche quoted his friend as saying.
According to the publication, others said that the notoriously hyperactive former leader was clearly finding it hard to switch off, spending the final week of his break "on the phone to his former ministers, collaborators, and even MPs on the campaign trail."
Sarkozy's UMP party is widely expected to lose its majority in the National Assembly in parliamentary elections on June 10 and 17.
"As soon as I'm not there, it's a mess," he is reported as exclaiming.
He has apparently even micromanaged from his hotel room a newspaper column by his supporters to launch a "friends of Nicolas Sarkozy association".
"He's not in any way depressed, just bored," one friend told the paper.
Sarkozy intimated he would quit politics after his defeat, saying he intended to become a "Frenchman among Frenchmen" and lead a "normal life".
But press speculation is rife over his next move, with one friend telling JDD he might be angling for a "European" job.
" He already has an office at the Consitutional Council, where all former Presidents are life members," he added. (ANI)
