Many people were sure that Macron would win.
That is why a huge queue of journalists lined up at his headquarters.
More than 1200 people.
You can imagine what a mess was going on inside.
There wasn’t enough space for everyone, they tried to push the press over the barrier, causing confusion among the ranks of cameramen fighting for a new place with a view of the Eiffel Tower, then they told everyone to go back, and the crowds with tripods, without hesitation, jumped like goats, through the fences, trying to return to the previously occupied point.
Then a fence was brought into the site, thinking to protect the media, then the fence was taken away.
Changed opinion every five minutes.
Very much in the spirit of Macron himself.
All his throwing during the first five-year plan led to the fact that the rival Marine Le Pen scored a record million for herself, and the youth voted for her - the future of France.
Macron's result is not so unambiguous - and certainly not brilliant, as American President Joe Biden put it.
A record number of people did not come to the polling stations, millions cast an empty ballot, some voted for him not as a sign of support, but simply against Le Pen.
If we disassemble the numbers in this way, then the real rating of the president is not so high.
Add to this the protests that have swept through many French cities, and you get a completely explosive picture.
Moreover, the struggle for power in the presidential elections, in fact, has not ended.
There is another stage ahead, which the representative of the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, called the third round, the elections to the National Assembly.
Mélenchon himself is urging his supporters to put pressure on him to become prime minister.
Then he will be able to block Macron's reforms.
Take, for example, the sensational pension reform.
Firstly, it is proposed to nullify almost all existing options for early care for 42 special categories of citizens, and secondly, to raise the retirement age to 65 years, establish a single contribution rate and a savings ceiling.
During the election campaign, the president heard enough criticism from ordinary French people.
People had already staged protests before and were ready to start indefinite strikes.
In the pursuit of votes, Macron promised to think about the need for reform and even, possibly, hold a referendum on this issue (he took over the best from Le Pen).
Now his own Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, says the opposite (typical macronism).
He does not exclude that the pension reform will be dragged through by force: not only are they not going to consult with the people, but they are also thinking of applying a special article of the Constitution, which allows the prime minister to adopt a law without consultations with the elected lower house of parliament, if there is a high chance that the discussion there will be long , and the result is not in favor of those who developed the document.
This article of the Constitution 49.3 was adopted on October 4, 1958.
In 2008, amendments were made - that it cannot be applied when it comes to laws in the financial field and in the field of public security.
In theory, this can be countered if, within the next 24 hours after its application, the National Assembly passes a vote of no confidence in the government and adopts it by a majority.
But for this you need to have the same majority - 289 deputies.
Macron could boast of this in the first five years, this time, judging by the current situation, everything can be different.
The preparations for the vote are already in full swing, and the media have also switched to it, which will give the majority to Macron if he unites with the Horizons of former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and the centrists from the Democratic Movement.
Its leader, François Bayrou, is already being tipped by some to be the next prime minister of France.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who is aiming for the same place, uses Bruno Le Maire's oversight with the pension reform, pointing out that only the head of the cabinet of ministers can make such a forceful decision.
And he, having taken this post, will not allow such laws to be implemented.
But alone, even with very good numbers in the first round of the presidential election, Mélenchon will not win.
He needs a coalition.
And he is already creating it - he is trying to unite the entire left flank into the "People's Union".
Negotiations have begun, and they are going well, to the surprise of Mélenchon himself.
The right flank does not sleep either.
After losing in the first round, Eric Zemmour immediately gathered his staff and began to plan a strategy for the next seven weeks.
For him, the obvious one hundred percent successful option is to unite with Marine Le Pen, gathering around him smaller right-wing parties.
In order not to be unfounded, his people made a calculation: what would happen if they went to the parliamentary elections themselves, and what would happen in the case of a coalition.
The figures were published on her Twitter by Le Pen's niece Marion Maréchal, who preferred Zemmour in the presidential race, and after more than once urged her aunt to draw conclusions, become flexible and unite.
According to their calculations, together, having created the "National Union", they can count on 12.5 million votes, which is 148 seats.
While Melenchon and Macron without a coalition will gain a little more than 11 million votes.
Eric Zemmour extends his hand to Marine Le Pen openly, writes about it on his pages.
She takes a few days off after the race.
And in her headquarters they do not rule out a coalition, but so far they are not talking about it.
At the same time, the French media paint a different alignment.
Based on new opinion polls, they believe Macron will be able to secure a majority of around 350 seats.
Le Pen, who has only eight deputies now, according to the same poll, will receive about a hundred seats out of 577. But the forecasts about Mélenchon are less optimistic, up to 40 seats are predicted for him.
The Republicans have a little more - within 65. But these are only the first sketches, there is still a lot of time ahead to win over certain supporters to their side.
Macron, most likely, will not make any sudden moves now, will devote his time to campaigning and distributing loud promises that catch the ear but carry little practical meaning.
I tried to find out from the young people who came to the headquarters with French flags what he charmed and convinced them with.
Tried three times, to be honest.
In response, I heard “beh”, “meh”, “he is for the future”, “he is for the youth”, “he is for Europe”, “he is cool”.
A set of slogans mixed with mooing and parasitic words.
Later, an aged man approached me on the street and began to explain in detail, clearly and indignantly, what exactly Macron did not please the French, drew parallels with the times of Chirac, Pompidou, analyzed current events, economic strategy.
Thinking man, it was nice to hear.
And so he voted for Le Pen just to
not to vote for Macron.
And he doesn't like them both.
There are many of these left too.
You should not write off revolutionary-minded France, which can still show its temper if the standard of living continues to fall and prices continue to rise steadily.
The security issue hasn't gone away.
On Election Day, another video circulated on the Internet of a bunch of boys beating a 20-year-old teenager to death in the middle of the street in broad daylight, the fight was filmed by witnesses.
On the same day, police in the center of Paris shot and killed two people in a car when they did not stop on demand for a check.
Islamization, the disappearance of secularism, the decline of education, and the imposed culture of abolition, which threatens to remake even the rules for writing French words in favor of gender diversity and tolerance, have not gone anywhere.
Something will have to be decided on Africa, where France is losing its positions.
In Mali and the Central African Republic, the military remaining in the region are trying to fight competitors in the information field, the task is to denigrate Russian PMCs who want to replace the French army in a year and a half.
Financial problems also remain: the country's external debt has increased over the past five years and reached a level of 113% of GDP.
Add to this the transition to green energy in the context of the planned rejection of cheap Russian energy sources - and all this creates not the most pleasant and easy background for the newly elected president.
Coupled with a change in the political landscape, it is quite possible to expect a second wave of social unrest.
There are difficult times ahead.
Macron himself said this phrase after his victory, rising to the podium not to the anthem of France, but to the anthem of the European Union.
Which, by the way, also offended many French people - but they made their choice.
We just have to watch.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.