LIFE IN PARIS: Thoughts on French Presidential Elections

The first round of the French presidential elections are tomorrow Sunday April 23, 2017 and to be honest my feelings are similar to many: the option is to choose the lesser evil.

As I sat yesterday at Mauri 7 ( a bar in the Faubourg Saint Denis area in the 10th arrondissement) with my son and a french friend and I witnessed an old lady (looking to be in her 60s) with an “En Marche” tote bag and flyers for candidate Emmanuel Macron passing them out to all the people at the tables outside. While in the same scene across the street, (just in front at Chez Jeanette ) a man pasting a Jean-Luc M?lenchon sticker on the already cluttered Do not enter street sign.

It’s getting intense!

To make matters worse I have seen

1. These fake posters plastered all over Paris (see below – these were taken yesterday at my son’s school – voting happens at schools).

2. Many of my french friends on Facebook, asking who to vote for! They simply have no idea

3. The police shooting on the Champs elysee scare many people (I’ve received numerous Insta messages of concern)**, that may increase Xenophobia of people coming to France

See more on all the candidates here

Yesterday on Instagram I posted these videos live – from the Champs Elysee ( as I had a meeting at La Maison de Champs Elysee).