France: A Perfectly Normal Couple
May 14, 2012![FILE This Thursday, April 5, 2012 file photo shows French Socialist Party candidate for the upcoming French presidential election Francois Hollande and his companion French journalist Valerie Trierweiler, left, leaving the Paris Institute of Political Studies, or Sciences Po in Paris. The last time France voted for president, Francois Hollande was a portly, smiley man with a wishy-washy image playing second fiddle to Segolene Royal, his Socialist party's candidate and the mother of his four kids. Now he's a man with a trim waistline and promising future who managed a tough presidential debate with the air of, well, a president. (Foto:Jacques Brinon, file/AP/dapd)](https://static.dw.com/image/15927006_800.webp)
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They are France’s first presidential couple not to be married. In addition, the electorate has been further annoyed by the low-profile stance taken by the country’s new Première Dame. During the election campaign Valérie Trierweiler had helped give her boyfriend a bit more character and charisma in the public eye. Now, however, she has no plans to stay in the limelight and instead intends to return to her career as a journalist. It’s a different story with the new president’s previous partner Ségolène Royal, who will again have a big voice in French politics after helping him on the campaign trail.