WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy will attend a picnic lunch with U.S. President George W. Bush and his family in Kennebunkport, Maine on Saturday, but Sarkozy's wife Cecilia will not come due to illness, the White House said.
Cecilia Sarkozy called U.S. First Lady Laura Bush Saturday morning, saying that she and her children were not feeling well and therefore would not be attending the lunch, White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said.
However, the spokeswoman said, "Mr. Sarkozy is still coming."
Sarkozy will be the second top leader of a foreign country who has been invited by the Bush to have discussions in a casual way at his family home in Maine.
At the invitation of Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin stayed for days at Bush's family home in Kennebunkport in July at the background of escalating tensions over U.S. missile defense plans in Europe.
U.S. President Bush and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy are due to have "a casual lunch" at the coastal home of Bush's parents in Kennebunkport on Saturday with the participation their wives and families, the White House said Friday.
"I think that the Sarkozys are in for a real treat to be able to get to meet all of the family, including some of the children," Perino said.
"The extended Bush family" will be at the private, social get-together, Perino said, noting "it's a casual lunch so they could talk about any range of issues. When world leaders get together there's a possibility they could discuss business."
The spokesman could not say how many people would attend. But local reports said that Bush's parents, twin daughters Jenna and Barbara, brother Jeb and sister Doro were expected to attend.
The lunch for Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia will be "traditional American picnic fare" that included hot dogs and hamburgers, Perino said.
On U.S-France relations, Perino said the two countries are working closely on a range of issues, especially at the United Nations, that include Lebanon, Sudan and Iran.
Perino said Bush could propose the climate change conference that he is holding at the end of September and to which France has been invited.
Sarkozy and his wife Cecelia, who arrived in the U.S. a week ago, are spending their summer holidays at a lake in the town of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, about 80 kilometers away from the Bush compound in Kennebunkport.
Sarkozy, who won the French presidential run-off in early May, pledged to warm up French-U.S. relations.
The Saturday lunch will be the third time Bush and Sarkozy have met. Their first meeting took place in late 2006 when Sarkozy was campaigning for president. The latest one was at the G-8 summit in Germany in June.
