
Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during an election campaign rally. (Frederic Scheiber/EPA)
I know, I know: we promised boots-on-the-ground election coverage from Paris, yet now that we’ve been here over a week — no news has been forthcoming.
There’s a reason for that. There’s not much to tell you about.
Our apartment is pretty much in the heart of Paris, in the Marais district, two blocks from the Pompidou Center, ten minutes (on foot) to Notre Dame, and about half that to the River Seine. Yet here, in the heart of Paris, all we’ve seen of the election is an occasional poster. Yes, there’s plenty of media coverage, but the media make their money by attracting eyeballs, so if you go by the media coverage the election seems to be having more of an impact than it really is.
So here we are, the day before the election, and the most interesting item we’ve seen is a poster I saw in a bookstore window yesterday:

Rough translation: “Let us prevent these three from leading the world.”
The biggest crowd we’ve encountered was at Tata Burger, Paris’s interpretation of Portland’s Voodoo Doughnuts, where the specialty is a burger molded in the shape of male genitalia. (Selfies abound.) And as for news, on CNN International, which is our primary televised source of news here, Portland’s Mayday riots got about as much coverage as those in Paris.

The Saturday-afternoon crowd outside Tata Burger
So tomorrow’s the day. The polls have Emmanuel Macron leading Marine Le Pen by some 20 points, but you know how well to trust the polls. Stay tuned to the blog: we’ll wander the streets of Paris tomorrow and let you know what we see.
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Nevertheless, Tom, you did find two remarkable things to comment on. I enjoy it all.
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“Remarkable.” Wow. Thanks, Chris. In fact, we DID try the Tata burger and found it to be — unremarkable. Thanks for reading!
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I’m jealous. I would love to be there on the streets of Paris, a flaneur with his camera and no particular purpose.
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Rick, I often think of you when I’m in Paris. Doing so makes me appreciate it (and Louise’s company) all the more.
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The news here is that Macron has been hacked and what is “released” is a mixture of real and fake e-mails. 😦 Gee, a familiar pattern.
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Now the news suggests they’ve BOTH been hacked. Yes, most familiar.
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Your energetic efficiency is appreciated and we look forward to,finally, some open and clear reporting. The world should appreciate it.
Thanks Tom!
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Wow. I have never been called energetically efficient. I don’t have to live up to it, do I?
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What a treat to find the expat almanac has returned – just caught up on earlier posts as well – oh to have a sidewalk café in Narragansett – would be perfection alongside the clam shacks non ?? waiting for more from my favorite travelers !!
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