This is CBSI in the World. I'm John Bachelorette. It's a pleasure to speak with

Sophie Petter, the bureau chief of the Economist magazine in Paris. She is also

the author of Revolution François, the story of a manuoma crown, a very young

president. Still four years into his term. France has five year terms. The

re-election is 2022. The decision to found what becomes a political party on

March is made in Amiens in April of 2016. A year later, a lot of events in

between. It's between the first and second round of the French presidential

election. You must qualify to the second round by having first pass the post.

And then a runoff between the French national party, the FN, the Marine

La Paine and a manuoma crown. But Sophie takes us to an event at Amiens in April

of 2017 when there's a strike. And Macron makes a decision to go there with

his staff to speak to the strikers. But Marine La Paine finds a way to

upstage him. What do we learn from these events, Sophie, that tells us about

Macronism and about the risk taker? Well, I think, you know, it was for me the

moment when we really learned during that campaign for the presidency what sort

of the kind of tough, steely inner side to Macron that hadn't been apparent

until then. What happened in Amiens that day was that Marine La Paine had come

up stage him by going to go and talk to the striking workers. Many of whom were

very much anti-macron and pro-her. And when Macron, who was already in the town,

got word of this, he was advised by his security guards not to go anywhere near

the striking workers. They told him very clearly, this is going to be dangerous for you physically.

These guys are hostile. We advise you not to do it. And Macron said, you know,

...