Dazzled Mexicans filed into the opulent residence of their presidents on Saturday, when the new government threw open its doors in a highly symbolic moment one visitor likened to entering the Palace of Versailles in the French Revolution.
Before leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was even sworn in Saturday morning, hundreds of Mexicans lined up to be among the first to see formerly private quarters in "Los Pinos," the home of presidents during the last eight decades.
Mario Lozano, a 47-year-old vendor from one of the poor neighborhoods that are part of a sprawl of cinder-block homes surrounding Mexico City, said he felt like he was entering the palace of French kings after the revolution.