It was the day when The First Wives Club came face to face with the grisly aftermath of the L�Aquila earthquake.

It was the day when The First Wives Club came face to face with the grisly aftermath of the L'Aquila earthquake.

Sarah Brown, Michelle Obama and others shook their heads as they toured the crumbled ruins of building after building and met the families at La Caserme di Coppito.

The quake that claimed the lives of 300 people and left 70,000 homeless reduced to rubble centuries-old buildings, including churches and other treasures, in the picturesque hills of Abruzzo.

The brief tour passed near L'Aquila's damaged cathedral and the 18th century Chiesa delle Anime Sante, whose cupola has all but collapsed.

Mrs Brown and Mrs Obama listened carefully to the firemen and other emergency service personnel who helped clear the wreckage and reinforce buildings so they can at some point be restored to former glories - or possibly be demolished completely.

The PM's wife described her experiences on her blog, saying: "The full scale of the devastation really hits you when you see beautiful buildings full of cracks and surrounded by crumbling stones.

"A glimpse inside a church revealed nothing but piles of rubble waiting to be sifted through the coming months to enable the restoration."

She added: "The emptiness of all the buildings was striking and you wonder how everyone is coping now with their displaced lives."

Mrs Brown - dressed in a grey chambray frock and sporting patent wedge heels - attended an exhibition about the quake and offered her sympathies to some of its victims, many of whom have been left living in tents across the region.

A small group of residents tried to stage a protest on the route of the wives' tour but heavy security kept them away.

On one nearby hillside is marked out a protest by the victims who feel that Silvio Berlusconi is not doing enough to help them and speed up reconstruction. It reads: "Yes We Camp" - a play on Barack Obama's famous presidential slogan Yes We Can, and a reference to the Italian Prime Minister's suggestion that the victims should treat their plight like a camping holiday.

Mrs Brown and her fellow leaders' spouses later had time to share their thoughts about their moving experience over lunch with the President of Abruzzo.

From her blog, it is quite clear that Mrs Brown's day in the crumbled wreckage of L'Aquila has made quite an impression.

Mr Berlusconi switched the venue of the summit from Sardinia to L'Aquila to show solidarity with victims of the quake. But there have been complaints that resources have been lavished on preparing the military barracks-style venue to receive the world leaders at a time when people remain homeless nearby.

Mrs Brown had a private audience with the Pope on Wednesday, then visited the Sant'Egidio Community in Rome to learn about their work fighting HIV/Aids in Africa.