PARIS (AP) - The Dalai Lama, trying to skirt controversy over Tibet during a 12-day trip to France, opened his visit with blessings at a Buddhist institute outside Paris on Tuesday.

The Tibetan spiritual leader is spending most of the duration of the Beijing Olympics in France, with only one political event on his schedule for now - closed-door talks Wednesday with French lawmakers.

Though some of his supporters have protested against Beijing’s hosting of the Games, the Dalai Lama has sought recently to ease tensions and sent a message last week offering prayers and good wishes to the Chinese people before the Olympics.

The first day of events following his arrival Monday was devoted to religious matters. At a Buddhist institute run by an exiled Tibetan outside Paris in Veneux Les Sablons, the Dalai Lama offered prayers and greeted the town’s mayor and representatives of other religions. Later Tuesday he was to head to another suburb, Evry, to bless a statue of Buddha in a vast pagoda being built by worshippers of Vietnamese heritage.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has decided not to meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader while the Olympics are in progress. Sarkozy’s office says the Dalai Lama did not seek a visit with him during his stay.

Sarkozy’s critics and human rights groups have accused the president of bending to Chinese pressure in order to try to secure major Chinese contracts for French companies - especially since Sarkozy decided to attend the Olympics opener in Beijing after threatening not to go.

French government spokesman Luc Chatel told France-2 television Tuesday that the Dalai Lama "said himself he thinks that it isn’t necessarily the right moment, given the Olympic Games, for a meeting with the president", and that he and Sarkozy "jointly decided" to meet later this year.

Even some in Sarkozy’s own UMP party, however, say the government is being too cautious about angering China.

Lionnel Luca, a UMP lawmaker, told France Inter radio that the government engaged in "self-censorship" by deciding to keep the Senate meeting behind closed doors, adding: "Our country must surely be occupied by Chinese troops because we are so afraid of displeasing (China)."

It will be difficult for the Dalai Lama to avoid the subject of Tibet entirely in France, especially at a news conference planned for Wednesday.

France has many pro-Tibetan and free speech activists who protested in the streets as the Olympic flame passed through Paris in April on its world tour, angry about China’s harsh crackdown on the demonstrations that erupted in March. Some Chinese called for boycotts of French products afterward.