Election clouded in Gallic indifference but not of the cliched kind – the country now seems genuinely despondent about politics
Outside the polling station in the socially mixed part of the third arrondissement of Paris there was a sense of ennui surrounding France's 10th presidential election. The voters had turned out as expected despite the rain, but outside people spoke of duty rather than desire for change, of obligation rather than hope or enthusiasm.
The elderly Algerian-born man who emerged into the spring drizzle and said, to nobody in particular, "Well that's it. I've voted", summed up a mood that seemed as changeable as the weather. The man did not want to say more. "It won't make any difference," he said as pulled up the collar on his jacket and walked off.
Paul, 58, an accountant, was also half-hearted. He would only say he had voted "left", but confessed to doing so without great enthusiasm; unlike in 1981, he said, when he and his friends had thrown their support behind France's first Socialist president, François Mitterrand.
"In 1981 we really felt that things would change. We were voting for a new order, a new country. It was very exciting. I think I can say that this election has not been exciting. We are doing our duty by voting, but I'm not convinced much is going to change."
Pauline Mathieu-Gay, 36, a mother of two, clutching a baguette in one arm and her two-year-old daughter in the other, said she had turned out to vote to "limit the risk of seeing someone like Mélenchon, Le Pen or Poutou" in the second round. She admitted leaning to the right. "Hollande has some good ideas but they are unrealistic; to be honest, for me there isn't a single candidate in this election who has stood out."
Self-employed Laurene Corbiere, 25, agreed: "I have only voted because it's my duty as a French citizen. If the blank vote was regarded and counted as a political choice I would have done that. I think people are voting by default, they are voting against something rather than for something this time."
Jean-Baptiste, 38, and friend Nicolas, 40, said they had voted for the centrist François Bayrou. "I know he doesn't stand a chance of getting into the second round but I didn't feel as if I had any choice," said Jean-Baptiste, who teaches English as a foreign language. "I don't want any more Sarkozy, but I don't really want Hollande either."
Nicolas agreed: "The media has focused on the two main candidates, but the campaign has been poor. There's been a lack of real ideas and not one of the candidates has attacked the fundamental issues."
Like many voters, Jean-Baptiste was more anti-Sarkozy than pro-Hollande. "In 2007, I voted for Sarkozy because he seemed to offer great hope of renewal and of great things. But it never happened. He has disappointed."
The proportion of voters turning out was estimated at 28.29% at midday, higher than in 2002, but lower than in 2007, when the French electorate was still traumatised by seeing a high rate of abstention help the far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen knock the Socialist candidate, Lionel Jospin, out in the first round.
At Gambais, in the Yvelines, on the outskirts of Paris, voters waited for up to 90 minutes to cast their votes. "The queue reached all the way outside and worse still, it was raining," Damien told the French newspaper 20 Minutes. "Anyway, here we've shown we're good citizens".
In Ainay, the chic area of Lyon, many voters told Libération they had voted for Sarkozy as a "family tradition". Hugues, 46, a teacher, said he had voted for Bayrou. "Sarkozy was out of the question. I don't like his personality, or his politics."
At Blanquefort in the Gironde, Bjorn, 18, was voting for the first time and said he was moved. "I feel like I'm taking part in something important," he said. However, he added: "I followed the campaign on the television and I read all the campaign statements, but it was difficult to decide who to vote for."
Braving the showers in Britanny, Jean-Marc, 42, a property sales adviser, said he still had not decided. "I've keenly watched all the debates, but the choice is not as simple as that," he said, adding: "I don't suppose things will really change anyway."
Denise, 73, voting in the seventh arrondissement of Paris, said she was a great fan of presidential elections. "It's interesting with all the debating of ideas, even if none of them will solve the problems." She added: "There are too many candidates anyway. It's ridiculous."
In another voting station in the 10th arrondissement in the capital, 23-year-old Sophie said she had voted, but had no faith in any of the politicians. "I'm young, I'm supposed to be fired up and idealistic, but to be honest none of the candidates really appeals. I don't think any of them will change the country, except perhaps Mélenchon."
A 30-year-old who did not want to give his name but said he worked for an American bank said he had voted to "keep François Hollande out". "He has no experience, he has no record of leadership and to be honest I have great difficulty envisaging him in a G20 meeting," he said.
Matthieu, 36, in human resources, would not say which way he had voted. "All I'll say is I didn't vote for someone. I voted against someone," he said.