'Zinedine Zidane for president! Zinedine Zidane for president!' In the summer of 1998, France won soccer's World Cup, the crowds cheered for the football superstar and the entire country was swept up in a post-victory high.
Six years on, the crowds are not cheering. Zidane has just retired from the national team after a mediocre European football championship.
Another superstar in French politics has also departed. Former finance minister Nicolas Sarkozy, once known as the Zidane of finances, left the government last month to head the ruling party and prepare for the next presidential elections in 2007.
A bitter power struggle between French President Jacques Chirac and the presidential hopeful was the only contest worth watching in France this year. Impertinent and omnipresent, Mr Sarkozy's straight-talking and unfailing energy dominated French politics.
As Mr Chirac's government waves goodbye to another bad year, Mr Sarkozy has consistently topped the popularity ratings. Mr Chirac's political allies, meanwhile, have endured major setbacks. They suffered crushing defeats in the regional and European elections. The president's popularity reached record lows and his prime minister and protege, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, is so unpopular he is unlikely to keep his job for another year.
The country blames the prime minister for failing to reduce unemployment, the country's main concern high above other major worries such as price rises and crime. Unemployment in France affects 9.9 per cent of the active population, one of the highest figures in Europe. Young people are particularly affected by lack of jobs.
While these figures remain stubbornly high, the French have started to question the effectiveness of the 35-hour working week. Moves to loosen this legislation, introduced by the previous Socialist government in an attempt create more jobs, have been taken.