Sarkozy has been defeated

Agreed, anagram - and with good reason, too.

I have yet to experience any animosity from the French, only interesting conversations on the English/French relationship.

And I think their animosity towards us dates back long before WWII.....!

Sorry, pammygran, I don't agree with that at all. I live in Normandy and I find the way the French honour the memory of the Allied soldiers who died round here very touching. They are quite interested in the royal family (not all), but I don't think they would want a royal family of their own, they are proud of being republicans.
I think Hollande has made a good start and I don't see any evidence of naivety, quite the reverse.

The Germans are afraid of having a strong Deutsch Mark which would make ther exports dearer. I think that Hollande won't make much of an impression. The fact that he wants all the contracts rediscussed and signed again, show that either he is very naive, or that he lied to get voted in.

Afraid the French have always "hated" us since we, with the help of the Americans,liberated them in WW11..dont get me wrong I love aspects of France & the French, but I think they are jealous of certain aspects of our life ie the Royal Family etc.

So today saw the F.TS.E , CAC AND DAX drop badly. I have never heard any arguement as to what would happen if Germany said. 'You know what, stick the Euro where the sun don't shine maties'. 'We are going back to the deutschmark, bye bye' .

I think the Germans must be fed up of bailing out the others and there is only so much they will take. As for Hollande he has laid down the gauntlet to Britain and will go for the Tobin Tax to be put in place. I hope Cameron is strong enough to say no or the government could finally get a backbench rebellion. I think Hollande is a little naughty saying Britain does'nt care about the euro when we have given billions so far in helping to prop up , what I beleive to be a dying currency in it's original form. Greece has had such severe austerity put in place they are dying as a nation but to say we don't want any austerity but stay in the euro is like a child saying it wants its cake and eats it.

There could be dark days ahead.

So, do they 'belong' to the same political party/group?

I don't think DSK was ever officially the presidential candidate but was the front runner to be selected.

Sorry but can anyone tell me if Hollande is/was the substitute candidate after that financier with the zipper problem withdrew from the political french scene?

I was listening to a discussion on a news channel today and analysts were agreeing that the mix of Merkel and Hollande could prove to be successful - a Paris/left and Berlin/right mix is seen to be full of possibilities. Merkel has proved herself several times over - she holds a strong line and is not diverted by the mavericks that have been knocking about over the last few years. The way she managed Berlusconi was clever - he was a complete embarrasment to the EU and she would benignly smile and wait for him to stop posturing, then get on with her agenda. A strong woman with plenty of substance!

Going back to POGS remark, politics is circular, so the extreme left is not much different from the extreme right. Always worth remembering that, I feel.

We only know what we have read and what you read abroad is different, I take the British press with pinch of salt. They are against anything German and next to the Germans come the French. Or is it the other way round?

Time will tell whether Sarkosy and Carla will remain married, but remarks about wives in politics have nothing to do with the politics in question which are what will become of the French / German alliance now that Sarkosy has been defeated, amd what this thread is about.

Greece seems set for a final ruin. Why, when the Greeks had 55% of their workforce working in the public sector and retiring at 55 years of age, should they be financed by Germans who retire at 65 (and soon at 67 )years of age. The Greeks must realise that those days are over, there are enough Greek billionaire's who could shoulder part of the Greek debt instead of the patient German, French and British tax payer.
Hollande is right to say he wants to drop out but the difficulty is doing it. He's going to have to go along with Merkel whether he likes it or not, but she is not quarrelsome or sensitive and has smoothed out worse problems in the last few years.
Merkel went to school in the communist East Germany and speaks fluent Russian. She has learnt English in the meantime but will not discuss politics in English. You have to understand German to realise what an intelligent far thinking poitician she is.

Being realistic, Carla Bruni is known for her 'hand-brake turns' (as described in the Independent) when leaving relationships with rich and powerful men. Her interest in Sarkozy astonished many people as she has left leanings and has publicly criticised Sarkozy in the past for his policies on immigation. Gransnetters do not necessarily only have a vague idea of the facts. Many of us are well read and take a keen interest in politics and current affairs. Reading through the hundreds and thousands of postings will show a balance of comments about successful women, and men

Yes, two more days of elections in June. As a member of the local council here, I have to do four hours at the polling station each time!
One thing I thought was very dramatic was the countdown at 8pm on the tele, when everybody counted, dix, neuf, huit etc and then the new President's picture appeared on the screen.

Well, she has had a string of relationships, one of them being with the son of the man she was living with at the time who divorced his wife to be with her, so I don't think I'm being too cynical. We'll see....

What would Angela Merkel have to do to make her self popular, give even more money away? The Germans will survive without the EU but will the other countries? F. Hollande will soon be back to real politics.

I saw a film shown in Germany about Carla Bruni where she said she was longing for the day when he is no longer president, and they can live a normal family life. She actually comes from a noble Italian family and has no need of being the president's wife to live that kind of life.
Some times on GN the posts soon come round to hitting out at successful women in the news and mostly with only a vague idea of of the true facts.

The French have to vote again, do they not on June 12th? To do with the Legislative?

Also remember a horse with the " Dawn " in it. Dawn Run won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1986.

riverwalk and Anagram. Yup I do. Thanks! New Dawn was a horse I backed not so long ago, that did'nt win either.

Interesting ... and dangerous times ahead perhaps. Must say Sarko gave me the woolies - just seeing him and hearing his voice made the hairs stand at the back of my neck. Very few people do that to me- and yes, Mrs T was another one, and so was G. Bush (:

Do you both mean Golden Dawn?

POGS I think you mean far RIGHT - New Dawn's emblem is a take on the swastika.

Be careful what you wish for. There will be a lot of trouble ahead and I for one do not want the same here thank you.

The Greek people have had austerity measures put in place we do'nt. The severity of the financial pact which the other 25 countries signed upto has always meant Greece and possibly Ireland and Portugal would have this sort of problem. As for Hollande I hope he does turn Frances finances around but he has a hell of a lot to prove. The big story is the rise of the far left,especially the New Dawn in Greece.

Todays paper seems to indicate that Frau Merkel is riding for a fall as well.

I don't like her either. I'm sure she's going to lose sleep over that!

Angela Merkel will have to find a new crony.....