The MEP is betting in particular on these short and inexpensive formats to take off his candidacy, which has been riveted for several weeks at around 5% of voting intentions in the polls and outdistanced by his competitor on the left Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

"Everyone knows how to hold meetings where activists come to wave flags", claims Yannick Jadot, when he wants to "occupy the street with political debate in places where there is traffic".

But, he concedes, "in winter it's not easy".

Monday evening in front of the cathedral of Rouen, just before nightfall, the 200 to 400 people must face a very Norman wind to hold the small hour of meeting - half used by local elected officials.

"When for wind turbines we are told about the problems of intermittency... In Normandy, we don't miss the wind", laughs Yannick Jadot during his plea for renewable energies and against nuclear power.

This was the privileged theme of the evening, even if the ecologist also quickly approached the axes of his program devoted to agriculture, social justice or even freedoms.

In the eyes of the French, "Normandy plays nuclear", he regrets, in reference to the nuclear power stations of Penly, Paluel and Flamanville.

"It's a pressure cooker, and if it breaks, an entire region is devastated," thunders Yannick Jadot.

Before knocking on Emmanuel Macron who, with the announcements of new EPRs, wants to "make a fiasco (in Flamanville) six, eight, twelve fiascos".

Outdoor meeting of Yannick Jadot in Rouen on February 21, 2022 STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN AFP

Aware that the livelihood of many families in the region depends on this industry, the MEP takes care to "thank the workers who run the aging power stations".

And affirms "that one euro invested in renewables and energy efficiency creates two to three times more jobs".

"I would like to believe it"

In the assistance arranged in a circle, the militant "flags" of the traditional meetings are out and most of the people met have come by eco-friendly word of mouth.

This is the case of Dylan Carpentier, 27, his girlfriend Aline Delaunay, 19, and his friend Charles Brouyer, 25.

They have sympathy for the candidate they are thinking of giving their vote to.

“A lot of young people are connected to ecology. We think of our children”, explains the first.

“But also to us”, intervenes the third, pointing to the imminence of climate change.

Carole Cellouzi, 55, hesitates with Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

"Both are radical", an "asset" in the battle against global warming, she says.

This kind of outdoor meetings, "it's good, people passing by can stop, and then renting rooms is expensive".

The teacher "would like to believe" in the victory of the environmentalist but "is not convinced".

Elliot, a 24-year-old student (not wishing to give his name), says he wonders about the "useful vote".

But not for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, as Ségolène Royal defended last week.

"The blank vote, that of protest," he says.

Meeting of Yannick Jadot in front of Rouen Cathedral on February 21, 2022 STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN AFP

Yet convinced by ecology, Elliot is upset by the disunity of the left: "Mélenchon was not able to capitalize on his 19.5% in 2017, Jadot on his 13.5% in the Europeans of 2019... And the debate is very split on the right. I don't think there will be any good surprises."

© 2022 AFP