Nicolas Sarkozy was accused of demeaning the French presidency with ostentatious behaviour yesterday, as a romantic trip to Egypt with Carla Bruni, his new girlfriend, sparked controversy back home.

Ségolène Royal, the defeated Socialist candidate in the presidential election, led a barrage of criticism as France’s most media-friendly couple left the Valley of the Kings for the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The President and Ms Bruni, an Italian-born singer-songwriter and former supermodel, came under fire for using a private jet belonging to Vincent Bolloré, a French industrialist, to fly to Egypt. After les amoureux were photographed hand-in-hand on the banks of the Nile, critics also attacked Mr Sarkozy, 52, for behaving more like a Hollywood film star than a head of state and successor to General Charles de Gaulle.

Ms Royal said that he had “undermined the independence and dignity of the presidential function”. She added: “Nicolas Sarkozy should stop provoking us with his ostentatious behaviour and stop placing himself in the debt of billionaires.”

Arnaud Montebourg, a leading Socialist MP, said that Mr Bolloré was in a position to demand favours after lending his Dassault Falcon 900 aircraft for a journey that will end with an official visit to Cairo this weekend. “There’s obviously going to be a compensation,” he said.

The billionaire tycoon also lent Mr Sarkozy a luxury yacht for a holiday off Malta after the May election. Mr Sarkozy sailed with Cécilia Ciganer, his wife of 11 years until their divorce in October.

“The way he frequents billionaires is an insult to the poverty and the difficulties of millions of French people,” Mr Montebourg said.

Yves Jego, a spokesman for Mr Sarkozy’s centre-right Union for a Popular Movement, praised the President for “playing the game of transparency about his holidays”.

“Nicolas Sarkozy has no reason to be ashamed of his friends, who are very diverse,” he said.

Mr Sarkozy, dubbed le Président bling-bling by the French media, shows no signs of wanting to conceal either his nouveau riche lifestyle or his latest flame. During his stay at the luxurious Old Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor, Mr Sarkozy was seen dining by the Nile as Ms Bruni planted kisses on his cheeks.

The couple and their 26-car motor-cade – followed by crowds of cameramen – toured the Valley of the Kings and visited the tomb of Nefertari, the wife of Ramses the Great. “It’s beautiful,” Mr Sarkozy said.

Accompanied by Pierre, Mr Sarkozy’s 22-year-old son, and his girlfriend, the President left Luxor yesterday as Tony Blair arrived for a holiday. Mr Sarkozy is due to have talks with Hosni Mubarak, his Egyptian counterpart, on Sunday before returning to Paris for his New Year’s Eve address to the nation on Monday.

It is not clear whether the 39-year-old Ms Bruni, whose former boyfriends include Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Donald Trump, will accompany him to Cairo.

Times Recommends

• 'Great Schlep' may seal the deal for Obama
• Hindu 'storm troopers' flex their muscles
• Ahtisaari: deserved reward for (failed) plan