CB and I saw some gossip about this yesterday, and we ended up chatting about cheating douches and looking for wedding rings and forgiveness. That being said, neither of us put much stock into the initial reports of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy were perhaps cheating on each other. It was just something interesting to chat about. But now an obscure story about a possible presidential affair(s) has taken on a life of its own. Page Six is running with the rumors the Bruniis “romantically involved with French musician Benjamin Biolay, while Sarkozy has fallen into the arms of 40-year-old ecology minister Chantal Jouanno”. Apparently, the whole thing started on Twitter (f-ck you, Twitter) and now media sources are running with old quotes from Carla that she’s “easily bored by monogamy.” Merde! Here’s more from Gatecrasher:

Ooh la la!

Reports surfaced Tuesday that French royal couple Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni may both be having extramarital affairs - allegations which, if proven true, will surely knock Tiger Woods out of the spotlight.

It’s rumored that the French President has Chantal Jouanno - a right-wing cabinet member - on the side, while the First Lady is seeing musician Benjamin Biolay.

“The presidential marriage is breathing its last breaths,” French paper Journal Du Dimanche reports. “Carla Bruni is in love with Benjamin Biolay, and the president has found solace with Chantal Jouanno.”

An online French publication, suchablog.com, reported shortly thereafter that Bruni had been a close friend of the 37-year-old musician for many years and is now “unofficially living with him at his flat in Paris.”

Those aren’t the only outlets that have Carla and Nicolas saying a joint “mon Dieu!” Tuesday, Yahoo News France, Le Post and the Global Post, as well as European TV news channel iTele, gave the allegations substantial coverage.

Sarkozy’s spokesman at the Elysee Palace in Paris has said he has “absolutely no comment” on the rumors, but this certainly isn’t the first time whispers have swirled about the First Couple’s marriage. Rumors recently flew that the two are holding on to the last threads of their relationship just until the end of Sarkozy’s presidency.

The intentions of Bruni - who was linked to Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Donald Trump before meeting the French leader at a dinner party and marrying him just three months later - have been questioned in the past. In a February 2007 interview, the then-model admitted she gets “terribly bored” with monogamy - and was painted as a gold digger when she married Sarkozy later that year.

[From Gatecrasher]

Eh. I mean, sure, it’s not like either of them have the best history with monogamy. What is this, Sarkozy’s third or fourth marriage? And Carla used to sleep with any powerful or cultured man she could find. So, it’s totally not out of the realm of possibility for either of them. But I, for one, kind of believed in their romance, at least on Carla’s part. I thought she really adored Pres. Sarkozy, and had “changed”. But, as I said to CB yesterday, that’s probably all very American and middle-class of me. I hate to make such a broad cultural stereotype, but having an affair isn’t the end of the world (or a marriage) in France. But if that’s the case, why is everyone getting in such a tizzy about the affair rumors? Because the Sarkozys are good copy, they’re good gossip, and it’s fun. Let’s hope that’s all it is.