PARIS - France's new first lady says she fell head over heels for President Nicolas Sarkozy and despite their whirlwind romance she expects the marriage to last a lifetime.
"I didn't hesitate" after meeting him, Carla Bruni said in an interview with the newsweekly L'Express, excerpts of which were posted Tuesday on its Web site. "Right away, I wanted to marry him."
The Italian-born model-turned-singer and Sarkozy exchanged vows Feb. 2 in a quiet ceremony in a drawing room at the presidential Elysee Palace, less than four months after they first met, reportedly in November.
It was the first marriage for the 40-year-old Bruni, who has a son from a previous relationship. It is the third for Sarkozy, 53, who has three children. He divorced his second wife, Cecilia, in October.
The discretion surrounding the wedding ceremony contrasted with the couple's very public romance, which caught attention around the globe as paparazzi trailed them in France, Jordan and Egypt.
Doubts have been raised about the durability of the speedy marriage and whether Bruni, whose nearly nude photographs have been widely displayed in French media, can be an appropriate first lady in a country where demeanor counts.
She has a short answer for those who thought the marriage came too fast: "Wrong."
"Between Nicolas and me, it wasn't quick, it was immediate," L'Express quoted her as saying.
Bruni has never made a secret of her relationships with the rich and famous, from Donald Trump to Mick Jagger. But she suggested Sarkozy is different from the others.
"It seems that with him, nothing bad can happen ... ," she said. "With him, an anxiousness that I've felt since childhood disappears."
She said she was comforted by Sarkozy's courage and called him protective and paternal. "I like being with him more than anything," she said.
The president, elected in May, has found himself in the midst of a spectacular plunge in the polls. Pundits blame his fall in popularity, in part, on the way he and Bruni flaunted their love ties. The couple has kept a low profile since the marriage.
Despite her freewheeling image, Bruni said she would be a no-nonsense first lady. "I don't yet know what I might do as first lady, but I know how I will do it: seriously."
But she also indicated she is not about to betray herself.
"Just as Nicolas doesn't resemble his predecessors, I would like, me too, while respecting the dignity of the post, to keep my personality," she said.
Indeed, Bruni was preparing to record her third album when the interview was conducted in her Paris home. Her guitar was lying on the couch, L'Express said.
Bruni said she does not like the idea of divorce. "So I am the first lady until the end of my husband's mandate and his wife until death."
