Roman holiday for Bush with a stroll in Pope's private garden

Benedict XVI took the U.S. President to the spot where popes pray privately and only special guests are allowed to stroll.

It was a symbolic step up from Mr Bush's previous visit a year ago when he met Benedict in the Pope's library in the Apostolic Palace, the place where VIPS are normally received.

Nice present: Pope Benedict receives a picture from President Bush of hw they looked at a previous meeting in Washington

In an apparent gesture of appreciation for the warm welcome that the Bushes gave him in Washington in April, Benedict welcomed the President and First Lady Laura near St. John's Tower in the lush gardens.

They then walked through the gardens to see the Lourdes Grotto, donated to Pope Leo XIII at the turn of the century by French Catholics.

Finally they posed for official photographs and exchanged gifts.

The president gave the pontiff a photograph of the two of them in a sterling silver frame, while Benedict gave Mr Bush a framed photograph and a little light reading - four volumes about St Peter's Basilica. Members of the presidential entourage received rosaries and medals of the pontificate.

Mr Bush and Pope Benedict share much common ground, particularly in opposing abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research. But they disagree on other issues, including the war in Iraq, the death penalty and the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

Stroll: Mr Bush and Pope Benedict in the Vatican's private garden

Benedict's journey to the United States will be best remembered for his repeated comments about the shame of the church's clergy sexual abuse crisis.

After his visit to the Vatican Mr Bush is flying to Paris where he was to give a speech to highlight a transatlantic rapprochement following divisions over the war in Iraq.

He is also commemorating the 60th anniversary of the start of the Marshall Plan, the massive U.S. aid program to rebuild Europe after the Second World War.

'I see a commitment to a powerful and purposeful Europe that advances the values of liberty within its borders and beyond,' Mr Bush was expected to say in his speech today in Paris. 'And when the time comes to welcome a new American president next January, I will be pleased to report to him that the relationship between the United States and Europe is the broadest and most vibrant it has ever been.'

The President has spent his second term mending fences, but Europeans remain keenly interested in who will be the next occupant of the White House.

Only a third of the people in Germany and Spain, four in 10 in France and half in Britain have favourable opinions of the U.S.

And Mr Bush himself? Those expressing confidence in him ranged from 16 per cent in Britain to a mere eight per cent in Spain.