Call it an unwritten rite of passage. No sooner has a new leader in Paris or Berlin been sworn in than they cross the Rhine for dinner and a date. Wedged between her swearing-in and Thursday's EU summit in Brussels, Angela Merkel is in Paris. She was re-elected with 42% of the vote; impressive, but short of an outright majority. She’s now in a grand coalition with the Social Democrat opposition. What can France's Socialist president hope for from Merkel’s term, and what’s in store for Europe?
