Marsielle:
A 60-year-old former school teacher, one-time Trotskyist and ex-Socialist minister, Jean-Luc Melenchon hardly seems the type to warrant a rockstar reception.
But, as he took to the stage at an election rally that saw tens of thousands flock to the Marseille beachfront, Melenchon met the kind of reception usually reserved for the likes of Mick Jagger or Bruce Springsteen.
Blowing kisses to the crowd and raising his arms in triumph, he was greeted with rapturous applause, chants of his name and of "Resistance! Resistance!"
In a typically fiery speech, Melenchon railed against capitalism and France's wealthy elite, calling for a "citizens' revolution".
"My friends, my dear fellow citizens, you know it, you can feel it, you can see it -- we are writing a new page in the history of the left," Melenchon told Saturday's crowd, estimated by organisers at 1,20,000.
"Melenchon-mania" has gripped many in France ahead of next Sunday's first round Presidential vote. On the back of a series of huge rallies, the Communist-supported candidate has surged to third place in some polls.
Melenchon remains far behind Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande and right-winger President Nicolas Sarkozy in the race, but his supporters say the firebrand's campaign has re-ignited interest in the left.
"He is a great man, a great unifier of the left and the only candidate who truly speaks for the people," said supporter Georges Guiol, 73, who travelled from the southeastern Hautes Alpes region to Marseille for the rally.
"This is not just about the Presidential election, we are building a future for the left," said Alain Perret, a 57-year-old retired railway worker wearing a hammer-and-sickle T-shirt in the crowd in Marseille.
"Melenchon has given a new life to the left, he is an extraordinary speaker and a great spokesman for our movement."
At rallies in Marseille, Toulouse and Paris, Melenchon mixed nostalgia for France's revolutionary history and modern campaign tools to re-invigorate the country's aging Communists and attract a new generation to the hard left.
His events feature seas of red flags -- those of the Communists, his Left Front and even the Soviet Union -- and symbolism like his Paris "march to retake the Bastille", the iconic square of the French Revolution.
In Marseille the rally opened with a rock band singing about workers' rights and revolution, and it ended with the singing of the far-left's traditional anthem, the Internationale.
Melenchon has himself become something of an icon, with reports of supporters fainting at the sight of him and reaching out to reverently touch him as he passes through crowds.
But he ardently denies creating a cult of personality.
"The thousands who come aren't coming to admire some guy, they are coming for the ideas -- though I hope they appreciate what I'm doing, the work I'm doing," Melenchon told an interviewer last week.
Analysts say Melenchon has touched a nerve with voters worried over unemployment, decreasing purchasing power and EU-imposed austerity measures.
Describing the working class as "France's true patriotic class", he has sought to make gains among traditional supporters of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen of the National Front.
His programme, ridiculed by his opponents as unrealistic, calls for raising the minimum wage by 20 per cent, banning profitable companies from laying off workers and confiscating income above 360,000 euros ($470,000) a year.
Recent polls have consistently shown Melenchon as the candidate seen to have the most dynamic campaign, and he is hoping to take that momentum into France's parliamentary elections in June.
Though he insists that he will take no post in a Socialist-led government, Melenchon has said that he wants the Left Front to put a strong group in parliament so it can "set the country's political rhythm".
Supporters hope that after years of languishing in France's political landscape, the far left may finally enjoy a political comeback.
"He has created a dynamic that is great to see, because it shows that something profound is happening," said Guillaume Lepage, a 25-year-old student enthusiastically waving a Left Front flag at the rally.
"With his personality, his charisma, he makes people feel like they can really change things."
But, as he took to the stage at an election rally that saw tens of thousands flock to the Marseille beachfront, Melenchon met the kind of reception usually reserved for the likes of Mick Jagger or Bruce Springsteen.
Blowing kisses to the crowd and raising his arms in triumph, he was greeted with rapturous applause, chants of his name and of "Resistance! Resistance!"
In a typically fiery speech, Melenchon railed against capitalism and France's wealthy elite, calling for a "citizens' revolution".
"My friends, my dear fellow citizens, you know it, you can feel it, you can see it -- we are writing a new page in the history of the left," Melenchon told Saturday's crowd, estimated by organisers at 1,20,000.
"Melenchon-mania" has gripped many in France ahead of next Sunday's first round Presidential vote. On the back of a series of huge rallies, the Communist-supported candidate has surged to third place in some polls.
Melenchon remains far behind Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande and right-winger President Nicolas Sarkozy in the race, but his supporters say the firebrand's campaign has re-ignited interest in the left.
"He is a great man, a great unifier of the left and the only candidate who truly speaks for the people," said supporter Georges Guiol, 73, who travelled from the southeastern Hautes Alpes region to Marseille for the rally.
"This is not just about the Presidential election, we are building a future for the left," said Alain Perret, a 57-year-old retired railway worker wearing a hammer-and-sickle T-shirt in the crowd in Marseille.
"Melenchon has given a new life to the left, he is an extraordinary speaker and a great spokesman for our movement."
At rallies in Marseille, Toulouse and Paris, Melenchon mixed nostalgia for France's revolutionary history and modern campaign tools to re-invigorate the country's aging Communists and attract a new generation to the hard left.
His events feature seas of red flags -- those of the Communists, his Left Front and even the Soviet Union -- and symbolism like his Paris "march to retake the Bastille", the iconic square of the French Revolution.
In Marseille the rally opened with a rock band singing about workers' rights and revolution, and it ended with the singing of the far-left's traditional anthem, the Internationale.
Melenchon has himself become something of an icon, with reports of supporters fainting at the sight of him and reaching out to reverently touch him as he passes through crowds.
But he ardently denies creating a cult of personality.
"The thousands who come aren't coming to admire some guy, they are coming for the ideas -- though I hope they appreciate what I'm doing, the work I'm doing," Melenchon told an interviewer last week.
Analysts say Melenchon has touched a nerve with voters worried over unemployment, decreasing purchasing power and EU-imposed austerity measures.
Describing the working class as "France's true patriotic class", he has sought to make gains among traditional supporters of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen of the National Front.
His programme, ridiculed by his opponents as unrealistic, calls for raising the minimum wage by 20 per cent, banning profitable companies from laying off workers and confiscating income above 360,000 euros ($470,000) a year.
Recent polls have consistently shown Melenchon as the candidate seen to have the most dynamic campaign, and he is hoping to take that momentum into France's parliamentary elections in June.
Though he insists that he will take no post in a Socialist-led government, Melenchon has said that he wants the Left Front to put a strong group in parliament so it can "set the country's political rhythm".
Supporters hope that after years of languishing in France's political landscape, the far left may finally enjoy a political comeback.
"He has created a dynamic that is great to see, because it shows that something profound is happening," said Guillaume Lepage, a 25-year-old student enthusiastically waving a Left Front flag at the rally.
"With his personality, his charisma, he makes people feel like they can really change things."
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