Final polls before a mandatory media blackout on campaigning from midnight on Friday showed Hollande narrowly ahead of the conservative leader for today’s first-round vote but the comfortable winner of the second round on May 6.
Parisians went about their business without being accosted by pamphleteers, while the campaigns’ websites, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds were left without updates and broadcasters had to find other subjects to interview.
But, while Sarkozy ate lunch with campaign staff in Paris, Hollande did risk angering the electoral commission with a limited walkabout in his electoral stronghold, the rural town of Tulle in the central Correze region.
The Socialist leader insisted he was just visiting the market, as he would any weekend morning he was in town, but he did greet well-wishers.
“Rainy Saturday, happy Sunday,” a florist declared, amid an intense shower.
“I hope so. Are you preparing flowers for tomorrow?” Hollande replied.
“Now’s the time,” she replied.
“Yes, now’s the time,” he said with a smile.
Voting began yesterday in French overseas territories, including the north Atlantic islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon just off the coast of Canada.
Voting in the first round began yesterday in France’s far-flung overseas territories – islands in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans – where 882,000 people enjoy full voting rights as citizens of the republic.
Off the coast of Canada, voting began at 8am local time (1000 GMT) on the tiny French islands of St Pierre and Miquelon, with 4,923 registered voters, then voting moved on to Caribbean territories.
Meanwhile, expatriate French voters living around the world began queuing at their consulates to take part.
The left-wing daily Liberation emblazoned its front page with the headline “A strong left” against the backdrop of a blue ocean under open skies, mocking the slogan and imagery of Sarkozy’s “A strong France” campaign.
More than anything else, this French election campaign is a referendum on the man currently in charge.
Sarkozy inspired voters in 2007 with pledges to break with the past and make France a more dynamic economy.
After an initial wave of reforms, his momentum fizzled. His stormy personal life got in the way: He divorced months into office, then quickly married former supermodel Carla Bruni, and became seen as a bling-bling president more concerned with pleasing his super-rich friends than serving the public.
He enjoyed a string of foreign policy successes, improving relations with the United States and Israel, leading an international airstrike campaign in Libya, rallying European partners to stem Europe's financial crisis.
But voters at home felt forgotten and hurt by a presidency that included France's worst recession since World War II.
Hollande, despite a bland persona and few eye-catching campaign ideas, has been more popular than Sarkozy for months.
Sarkozy showed signs of a possible comeback once he hit the campaign trail. The shooting rampage in southern France also gave him a platform to appear presidential and project the tough guy image that helped launch him to national prominence.
But in recent days his support has lagged again. The last polls before the election, released Friday, show Sarkozy slipping a few points behind Hollande in the first round — and a crushing 10 to 15 points away from victory in the runoff.
In a Friday night rally in the Riviera city of Nice, Sarkozy sought to distance himself from the far right and appealed to his followers: "We must win!"
Hollande looked calm and easygoing as he walked down the main street of Vitry-le-Francois in eastern France on Friday, stopping in a pizzeria, several bars and cafes and a clothing shop to chat.
Crowds were passionate in the nearby town of Saint Dizier, where factories have closed and unemployment is a key concern.
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