Emmanuel Macron delighted the crowds who had turned the esplanade outside the Louvre Museum in Paris into a sea of fluttering tricolor flags on Sunday night by taking the stage to the sound of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy – the European Union anthem.
They roared their approval as the victorious centrist candidate took to the stage to tell supporters “a new page has been turned in our history”.
The crowds started what promised to be an all-night celebration the moment the provisional result was announced at 8pm local time; the moment they and much of liberal France breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Macron supporters gathered around the famous glass pyramid, where they watched the new president-elect give his victory speech at his campaign headquarters the other side of Paris.
A few hours later, he was there in person, looking serious and presidential as he strode across the Louvre courtyard to the stage. “Macron president. Macron president,” they cheered.
“Thank you my friends,” he told them. “What we have done for the last many months has no precedent or equivalent. Everyone said it was not possible but they didn’t know France.”
It was a sombre address for a celebration party. Macron said he accepted many had voted for him even though they disagreed with his programme to “defend the republic against extremism”. “I will protect the republic,” he told the crowd.
When he mentioned those who had voted for Marine Le Pen, there were boos and whistles. “No, don’t whistle them,” Macron said. “They have expressed today their anger and dismay – and sometimes convictions. I respect that. But I will do everything I can in the next five years so there is no reason to vote for extremes.
“Tonight, there is only the reunited people of France. The world is watching us. Europe and the world. I will serve you with love.”
On cue, his wife Brigitte came on stage followed by other members of his family, friends and election campaigners. After blowing kisses to the crowd, France’s new president led the crowd in a vigorous rendition of La Marseillaise.
Macron, 39, a former banker and economy minister running as an independent centrist, is economically liberal, socially progressive, globally minded and upbeat.
Having been accused of prematurely celebrating after his presidential first round success two weeks ago, it was clear he was not going to make the same mistake twice.
His first victory speech, delivered at his campaign headquarters, was sober, calm and short. He spoke of a “big honour and an immense responsibility”. He said he was speaking to all of France’s citizens, not just those who had voted for him. Perhaps pointedly, he said he was sending “republican greetings” to Marine Le Pen.
Macron said he was aware of the “anger, anxiety and doubt” that many French citizens felt and expressed in their vote. He said he would be “implacable and entirely resolved” in defending their security. “I will defend France, its vital interests, its image,” he said.
His primary task over the coming five years, he added, was to “calm people’s fears, restore France’s confidence, and gather all its people together to face the immense challenges that face us”.
Supporters had begun gathering outside the Louvre late in the afternoon, but security checks meant many people were still outside when the result was announced. The organisers had planned for 10,000 and numbers swelled dramatically as the night drew in.
Despite the party music, live bands, DJ and dancing girls, the crowd often seemed reticent and subdued. Macron’s supporters seemed happy, emotional, but not entirely overjoyed; an atmosphere reflecting the sense that the country had sailed very close to a perilous wind and gone through an experience that had left many traumatised.
To the last minute, there had been fears and uncertainty. For weeks, the polls had pointed to a Macron victory – but as everyone kept saying, the polls had got it wrong with Donald Trump and with the UK’s Brexit vote.
Shortly before the result was announced, one Parisian, Daniel, who said he was retired and worked as a charity volunteer, said it had been nerve racking. “I can only hope it’s a convincing victory so he has some legitimacy. It was terrible when the FN [Front National] got into the second round in 2002 and then were beaten. We thought it had been seen off. And here we are again. We need him to have a convincing victory.”
Ben Lounis, 39, a radiologist, who was born in Algeria, had brought his three children to celebrate at the Louvre. As the children, aged between six and 10, waved flags, he said: “I am very satisfied with the result. France has avoided the worst. I feel Mr Macron is an interesting and intelligent young man and I hope he will bring lots of good things to France and the whole world.
“I hope that under him we can find ourselves in a multi-cultural France where we regard each other as human beings. I have three children of mixed race, their mother is French, we live in France and we want to keep living in France. We were afraid of the alternative.”
Kardia, a French citizen who was originally from Burkina Faso, said she was “very happy” with the result. “We need a young president who will change things. For me it’s an important win for our children. The fact he is so young does’t bother me at all. He is just what France needs. A young entrepreneur.”
She said that Le Pen’s place in the election’s second round had made her afraid. “I’ve been in France for 20 years, lived in the US, now I live in Spain. My children are studying, living and working all over the world. I don’t understand this idea of France for the French. We need to have a world view.”
After the president-elect left the stage, the party went on into the night. A long and troubling presidential election was over and it was time to celebrate.
