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Vive French Exceptionalism
In the 16th century, King Henri took political advice from a much older woman he was involved with, like the new president apparently does.
The French are said to be the most pragmatic of people and wise in the ways of the world. As inhabitants of the Roman province of Gaul, they outwitted their rulers’ legions and were the first Europeans to make friends with the powerful Abbasid Empire of Harun al-Rashid in the second half of the eighth century. Tiring of the rigours of the Crusade, many refused to return to their barbaric lands, settling instead in the affluent and luxurious cities of West Asia. (The numerous blue-eyed, tawny-haired people in the region may be one legacy of this entente cordiale.) The French instigated revolutions to establish republics and then, wearying of republican virtues, restored kings and emperors.
Their pragmatism is best reflected in the relations between men and women. Numerous articles about French President Emmanuel Macron, and his wife Brigitte, have appeared in the media. A centrist who was an investment banker, Macron beat Marine Le Pen of the right-wing National Front by a big margin in the run-off on 7 May, after no candidate emerged with a majority in the first round, on 23 April. Unlike some of the previous French presidents who had their mandatory mistresses and illegitimate progeny, the 39-year-old Emmanuel Macron has none of this baggage. His is a rather unusual and impeccable biography in a world with a plenitude of ageing sugar daddies and their nubile companions.
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