Trains run mostly on time, coffee remains undrinkable, and the intellectual class continues to offer elegant variations on the idea that France is always about to collapse. A Paris dinner paired great food and mood with apocalyptic forecasts, including claims that France hovers between civil war and financial bankruptcy. One year before the 2027 presidential election, many French people appear to believe the far-right National Rally will win the Elysee Palace for the first time. Fatalism is described as a habit, and past predictions about French politics are noted as often wrong. The far right is said to be closer to power than ever, with polls indicating the RN candidate would win most plausible runoffs, except against Macron’s former prime minister Edoua.
"One reassuring thing about France is its consistency down the years: trains still run mostly on time, coffee in the land of cafes remains undrinkable, and, whatever the season, the intellectual class continues to supply elegant variations on the same theme: France is always about to collapse. The present mood feels familiar and fatalism, of course, is a habit in France."
"At a recent dinner among friends in Paris I was treated to a typically balanced menu: great food and mood, paired with apocalyptic forecasts. After nine years of Emmanuel Macron's right-leaning rule France stands at the abyss, one guy said, as he cut the head off an asparagus. The country hovers somewhere between civil war and financial bankruptcy, another added, cooling her forehead with a glass of cold white wine."
"Yet one year before the 2027 presidential election, French people seem to have arrived at the same conclusion: the far-right National Rally (RN) will conquer the Elysee Palace for the first time. France has a talent for depression, author Michel Houellebecq once said, before adding, with characteristic ambiguity, I resemble France."
"To be sure, the far right has never been closer to power. According to recent polls the RN candidate whether Marine Le Pen or Jordan Bardella would win every plausible runoff, except against Macron's former prime minister Edoua"
Read at www.theguardian.com
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