French outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, watched by his successor Francois Hollande and his life companion Valerie Trierweiler, leave the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 15, 2012. The power handover ceremony between Sarkozy and Hollande was held here on Tuesday morning, when Francois Hollande was officially sworn in as France's president. [Xinhua]