They have been polled on their favourite Gaul,
as they so often are, and this half year's results are in, with a delightful degree of demographic detail.
Gauls overall opted for a top three of Yannick Noah, film director Dany Boon and Zidane again, followed by comedian Gad Elmaleh who is in at no 4 with a bullet. Journo Patrick Poivre D'Arvor (
of whom more later) jumps ten places and having been sacked as a newsreader appears to have helped him. Aznavour, Hulot (
of whom more later) beat out the first woman, dwarf actress Mimie Mathy, actor Jammel Debbouze and singer Michel Sardou. Given that our French chums are not always renowned for their all together
modern views on non-white Gauls, it is intriguing that four are black or Maghrebi.
Chaps led with Zidane, with the top ten finding space for footballer Franck 'Scarface' Ribery and someone called Renaud, who appears to be a singer. Sardou and the dwarf do not make the cut.
Ladies opt for Mimi Mathy, who would look to be about as gender polarising a figure as Dawn French (
Does anyone know a straight man - bar her husband - who would prefer watching La French to sticking needles in his eyes? I don't). The rest of the top ten is otherwise similar to that for Gauls overall.
Amongst les jeunes, Elmaleh leads, with showings for comedian Jean Dujardin, actor Franck Dubosc and Corneille. Not the deceased dramatist, but a singer. No room at the inn for Aznavour, unsurprisingly, although the National Hero of Armenia and Order of Canada laureate leads among the over 65s. Soeur Emmanuelle, a perennial favourite of senior Gauls, does not appear, having died in October.
For those still paying attention, this is where it gets interesting, as there are also top tens by left and right, and PPdA leads among leftists. There are rumours that Sarko got him sacked, but otherwise I am at loss to see why our red flag-brandishing friends are so keen on him. So, two TV bods in the top ten, otherwise all sportsmen or creative types. All men, note.
Rightists opt for Nicolas Hulot, whom I described as their 'rather more militant equivalent of David Attenborough' last time. A bit of sniffing around suggests that apart from making pretty documentaries, he is
a pretty hardcore tree-hugger - "
We need to place green issues at the heart of the Presidential Election!" Sarko is second, which is a bit less quixotic. Simone Veil, a Gaullist - if a feminist and a social liberal - shows for the right if not the left. Jean 'Leon' Reno makes this list, aided by coming out for Sarko in 2007, presumably.
Had to be, didn't it? The remainder of the military top five is a bit less predictable, with the SR-71 Blackbird, C130 Hercules, P51 Mustang and F16 Falcon rounding things off. After that, the Sukhoi SU-27, the Messerschmitt 262, the F4 Phantom, B17 Flying Fortress and the Lancaster.
