Cheers and tears after Sarkozy's victory

“Nicolas!” tens of thousands chanted, kissing and waving French flags and blue balloons to ring in victory for conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, elected president of France after a hotly contested campaign.

“I ask you to extend your hand. I ask you to give the image of a country united,” Sarkozy told a crowd estimated at 30,000 at the famed Place de la Concorde at the foot of Paris’ Champs-Elysees avenue.