"They can count on our friendship."

That's not necessarily a comment about America you'd expect to hear from French President Jacques Chirac, who hasn't been shy about criticizing the United States on matters from war to the environment. But the man who uttered the sentence in a speech - Nicolas Sarkozy, who was just elected to succeed Chirac - has a different approach to the big country across the pond.

"We were all very taken aback by that speech," says AP Paris bureau chief John Leicester, who got on the phone with AP deputy international editor Nicolas B. Tatro to talk about the results of Sunday's vote. He says Sarkozy's "friendship" comment "was a real break with the outgoing president."

Leicester and Tatro also talked about the French economy, the nation's struggles with globalization and the failed campaign of Socialist Segolene Royal, who was hoping to becoming France's first female president.

To hear some of their conversation, listen to this asap podcast.

http://asap.ap.org/data/interactives/_news/podcast/0507asap_tatro.mp3