LUXOR: Dressed in casual clothes and riding in a 26-car motorcade, French President Nicolas Sarkozy toured the archeological sites of Luxor with his new girlfriend ex-supermodel Carla Bruni.

Hordes of photographers and cameramen followed the motorcade at a distance as it wended its way from the historic Winter Palace Hotel through the town before arriving at the steep sided Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile where many of Egypt s most powerful ancient Pharaohs were buried in rock-cut tombs more than three millennia ago.

The couple giggled and whispered together like a pair of teenage sweethearts as they toured the ancient tombs. Italian-born Bruni, 39, was dressed in black trousers and top and wore one of Sarkozy s white shirts bearing his initials on the breast pocket, while he opted for a pair of jeans and green patterned shirt

The couple climbed into small electric cars to tour the sight.Flanked by bodyguards, the pair smiled and waved to onlookers and took time to chat to some local Egyptians.

Sarkozy then went on to visit the Ramesseum temple on the west bank of the Nile which is being restored by French experts. His party then returned to the hotel for a rest before taking a floating lunch aboard a Nile boat, with plans to visit the immense temple of Karnak in the afternoon. -Agencies