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La chevalerie, it is not dead! Sarkozy turns Prince Charming as he catches Hillary Clinton tripping up the palace steps

Whoops-see-daisy: Nicolas Sarkozy grabs Hillary Clinton's hand as she steps out of her show on the steps of the Elysee Palace today

But as her arms flailed for balance, Mr Sarkozy was there ready for her to grab on to.

Mrs Clinton looked relieved - and may even have been blushing a little as she recovered her dignity.

She was visiting Paris today to give a speech in which she will underscore the Obama administration's commitment to European security.

She was meeting with Mr Sarkozy, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, and National Security Adviser Jean-David Levitte, before delivering the address at France's military academy.

You're safe now: Right, Mrs Clinton leaves her shoe on the step as she recovers her balance with Mr Sarkozy's help. Left, Mrs Clinton, seconds before her near-accident

Mrs Clinton, who left London today after a conference with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the war in Afghanistan,  will speak on threats facing Europe.

She is to discuss the Obama administration's approach to missile defence, arms control with Russia and the importance of Nato.

Speaking to reporters travelling on the plane with her to France, Mrs Clinton said she wanted her speech to be part of 'the whole discussion that's going on about the definition of European security' as Nato reviews its goals and strategies for the next 50 years.

She said the traditional definition of security as deterrence is obsolete.

My hero: A distinctly pink-looking Mrs Clinton still clutches the hand of a rather smug-looking Mr Sarzkoy as they pose for photographers

Instead, the term is broadening to include threats from non-state actors, terrorism, cyber-security and disaster mitigation and response.

Instead, the term is broadening to include threats from non-state actors, terrorism, cyber-security and disaster mitigation and response.

'There are a lot of implications that were not part of the original Nato concept but which we increasingly define as security,' she said.

Mrs Clinton also said she would address new Russian proposals for European security.

On the controversial issue of a missile defence network for Europe, Mrs Clinton said the U.S. would welcome Moscow's input on research and development.

'From our perspective missile defence is much more now about defending against non-state actors and rogue regimes than it is about what we classically thought as the need for deterrence,' she said.

At the meeting she also stressed the necessity of punishing Iran for its failure to come clean about its nuclear intentions.