Did Sarkozy really spend €37,000 a night on his G20 hotel room? No!

"As world teeters on the brink, can leaders enjoy €1m of hospitality? Yes they Cannes" screamed the headline to a story in that bastion of journalistic accuracy The Sun last week.

Majestic hotel, Cannes (screenshot from YouTube video)

The paper was beside itself and in apoplectic full flow over the amount of money some world leaders had spent on accommodation, "gourmet meals and fine wine" during the G20 summit held in the southern French city of Cannes.

And according to the paper the biggest culprit, in terms of the amount he had spent on a place to rest his head for two nights, was none other than the host to the whole shebang, the French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

In the piece readers learned that the former master of Bling Bling had forked out an "eyewatering" £32,000 or around €37,000 a night for "the Presidential Suite at the five-star Majestic Hotel".

What a scandal, especially in these times of belt-tightening austerity, and the comments from Sun readers were suitably outraged.

Except it's not true, according to both Franck Louvrier, a spokesman for the French president's office, and the hotel itself.

You see, the French national daily Le Monde actually took the time to check on the veracity of the claim and provided evidence to back up what it had found.

It's a clever technique that surely still has its place in reporting called "backing a story up" with evidence or "attributing" it.

"The information is false," Louvrier told Le Monde.

"The actual cost was ten times less even though there are suites at that price."

There are indeed, as the hotel confirmed; one at €30,000 a night and another at €38,000.

But Sarkozy wasn't in either of them and instead had been in a room which typically cost between €1,500 and €3,000 a night.

The Majestic was too discreet to mention which room in particular Sarkozy had stayed but it did confirm that the bill for his two-night stay had been between €6,000 and €7,000.

So there you have it. Perhaps The Sun article slapped on an extra "zero" - by mistake.

And what does it say for the rest of the claimed expenses and accompanying graphics?

Nicolas Sarkozy to start tweeting

Something to look forward to for all those interested in French politics.

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has promised to tweet during December's United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Those following him on Twitter will be able to "track his impressions throughout the summit" as part of an effort by his office at the Elysée Palace to boost the president's popularity by taking a lead from US politicians", according to the French weekly newspaper, Le Journal du Dimanche.

But hang about a moment. Will it really be Sarkozy on the other end tweeting from behind his computer screen or 'phone?

Even though in Saudi Arabia last year he appeared to be caught on camera sending a text message while one of his hosts was making a speech, surely he'll be too busy in the Danish capital to keep us bang up-to-date with what he's doing.

In fact it's more than likely it'll be the person responsible for communications at the Elysée palance, Franck Louvrier, that everyone will actually be "following".

"The president won't be using Twitter himself," admits Louvrier.

"But we'll outline what's happening and how the negotiations are going for the duration of the summit."

Sarkozy is no stranger to the Internet or social media sites. He already has a Facebook page with over 162,000 "supporters"

And he had a website during the 2007 presidential campaign, which has since become (or remained) his official site reminding us that, "Ensemble tout devient possible".

Then of course there's the site of the President of France, complete with photos, schedules, videos of speeches, the chance to send him a message (maximum 4,000 characters) and much, much more.

Meanwhile the other half of France's first couple, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has had a few teething problems with her new site, carlabrunisarkozy.org/fr launched on Monday.

It crashed just hours after going online as the number of users eager to gain an insight into her life with her husband at the Elysée palace - oh and all right her charity work too - exhausted the site's capacity.

For those who were unable to admire the layout and design, as well as its more serious content such as her role as ambassador for the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria there was always the screen shot provided by the weekly glossy, Gala.

And of course fans could and can still log on to her multilingual music site, should they wish to listen to any one of her three albums.