Most on the French right [Jacques Chirac] once dominated and in the party founded for his re-election in 2002 have swung behind [Nicolas Sarkozy] before the April-May two-round presidential vote, leaving Chirac with no political base for another run.

Internationally, the repercussions of Chirac's defiant "Non!" to war on Iraq, which forced U.S. President George W. Bush to invade in 2003 without United Nations backing, still echo.

Chirac's acknowledgment of the French state's guilt in the Nazi extermination of Jews in Second World War was historic. But economically, few French say they are better off than they were in 1995, when crowds splashed in Paris fountains to celebrate Chirac's surprise election win.