13 jours avant le 2e tour

One of the favorite editorial themes going into the 1er tour was the dilapidation of France. The run-up produced a lot of these "gloomy France" color pieces.

FRANCE: A NATION IN DECLINE?
BREST April 13, 2007 (Independent)

FRANCE WRESTLES WITH ITS OWN DECLINE
PARIS April 14, 2007 (ABC News/AP)

'SECOND-TIER' COUNTRY: AS VOTE NEARS,
FRANCE CONFRONTS DECLINE
PARIS April 14, 2007 (USA TODAY)

MALAISE ALIVE AND WELL IN FRANCE
April 21, 2007 (NZH)

France caught the world's attention -- and the world sadly wondered, what has become of France? But if you are French there is no such thing as bad attention.

ALL RIGHT, MR. DEMILLE, I'M READY FOR MY CLOSEUP.
You're France. You Used To Be A Colonial Power. You Used To Be Big.

PFFT (What is this?): Dilapidated vedette 3 | Trading on yesteryear looks 3 | Rayonnement français 0