Meet Valérie Pécresse, the French centre-right hopeful

“MMMM, A NICE baguette from the Ardennes!” declares Valérie Pécresse, tearing off a chunk of the warm crusty loaf she has just bought at a boulangerie and popping it into her mouth. The centre-right Republicans’ presidential candidate, and head of the greater Paris region, has taken her campaign to the valleys and forests of north-eastern France on a recent weekday. In the village of Signy-l’Abbaye, no shop or café goes unvisited. As Mrs Pécresse breezes in and out, clutching her loaf, some locals seem bemused. The manager at Le Gibergeon restaurant confesses beforehand to having no idea who the visitor is, but is later charmed. “Oh yes, I recognised her from the telly,” she says. “It would be good to have a female présidente.”