US

French place hopes in Obama as President-elect arrives in Washington for inauguration

Article published on the 2009-01-18 Latest update 2009-01-19 10:18 TU

Barack Obama stands on the back of his train car en route to Wilmington, Deleware on Saturday
(Photo: Reuters)

Ahead of his inauguration as the United States' 44th President on Tuesday, Barack Obama arrived in Washington's Union Station on Saturday.

He travelled 225km from Philadelphia, stopping to speak to 40,000 people in Baltimore, some of whom had waited for six hours to hear the President-elect speak.

He also stopped in Wilmington, Delaware, where he again spoke to crowds and collected Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

Obama travelled with his wife Michelle, his two daughters and a host of security and press.

He will take the oath of allegiance and be sworn in as the next US President Tuesday at 12.00 local time on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

In France, 70 per cent of those questioned in a poll published in the Le Parisien newspaper said they placed high hopes in the next US President, with a third saying they believed he could improve the lives of the French.

Obama is expected to visit France in April for a Nato summit in the east of the country.