From Valérie Pécresse to Eric Zemmour, Versailles, the laboratory of the right

Is there a more hidden and discreet place than this private garden in the Saint-Louis district, one of the most “traditional” corners of Versailles? To ring the doorbell of the mansion in the peaceful artery, on September 21, the applicants took on the air of royalist emigrants fleeing the Paris of sans-culottes, Anne Hidalgo and the paparazzi. Absolute secrecy is required for this meeting with Eric Zemmour organized at the home of a landscape contractor, Benjamin La Combe, a former local right-wing candidate, defender of “integral ecology”.

In the coolness of a garden and an autumn evening, two city councilors have taken their places; some faithful of Saint-Symphorien, one of the eight parishes of Versailles; Christophe Billan, the former boss of Sens commun, a movement born in the wake of La Manif pour tous and whose crucible is in Versailles; former members of UNI, the hard-right student union popular in the 1980s; retired soldiers and a former member of the DGSE. Eighty guests in all.

France has not said its last word: at nightfall, everyone slips their autographed book into their briefcase or handbag and stealthily leaves this Jew of Algerian origin who is not really their type but defends Christian France with more ardor than a traditionalist. He was there again, on October 6, for a signature in a bookstore, in front of which dozens of people shouted “Zemmour President! ".

Before that, on September 26, during Conservatism Day organized in Asnières, Eric Zemmour found two other figures from Yvelines. One, Laurence Trochu, member of the national office of the Republicans, has been since 2018 the president of the Conservative Movement (the new name of Common Sense), opposed to same-sex marriage. The other, a purebred Versaillese, François-Xavier Bellamy, Les Républicains (LR) also, is an MEP – despite the rout of his list, Union de la droit et du center, in May 2019, arriving behind that of La République in walking (LRM). In support of the Watchers, the more spiritual arm of Common Sense, he too often demonstrated in the middle of the candles on the market square of Versailles. He explains that, faced with the "challenge of civilization" which is looming, he does not see why his party would not reach out to Eric Zemmour.

The “right bank of macronism”

Same day, different atmosphere, on the same market place, Notre-Dame district. Square with meat, Square with flour, Square with herbs and Square of the tide. Four halls that attract crowds from all over Yvelines to find locally produced chicken, cheese, fruit and vegetables – the famous short circuit. Couples linger in front of a percolator installed by Italians, others wait in front of a repair shop for scooters, this new family and Versailles passion.

You have 88.66% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.