French first lady donates damages to soup kitchen 02/04/2008 00:00

French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has donated 60,000 euros (93,500 dollars) in damages she was awarded in a court case against budget airline Ryanair to a soup kitchen.

   PARIS, April 2, 2008 - French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has
donated 60,000 euros (93,500 dollars) in damages she was awarded in a court
case against budget airline Ryanair to a soup kitchen.
   The Restos du coeur (Restaurants with a heart) association said Wednesday
it had received the donation from Bruni-Sarkozy and a second one for the same
amount from President Nicolas Sarkozy.
   Bruni-Sarkozy said she had decided to give the association the full amount
she was awarded in the case because she was unable to perform at the annual
concert for the soup kitchen, according to a statement from the charity.
   The funds will "help finance activities to help the poorest and the
association thanks the president and his wife for their support and
generosity," said a Restos du coeur statement.
   A Paris court in February ordered Ryanair to pay Bruni 60,000 euros in
damages for featuring a photo of the couple in an ad campaign, well short of
the 500,000 euros she was seeking.
   The president was awarded a symbolic sum of one euro in damages, as he had
requested.
   The advertisement published in a French newspaper featured a photograph of
the couple smiling dreamily while a thought bubble next to Bruni read "With
Ryanair, my whole family can come to my wedding."
   The couple married on February 2 after a whirlwind romance.

AFP