Francois Hollande made his New Year statement on TV last night (Wednesday) from the Elysee Palace and urged the French people to be bold, to face the future with confidence. He underlined achievements made by Frenchmen and women during 2014 and emphasised that the changes being made by his ministers would bring France back to growth and wealth. In the face of the growth of right wing populist parties whose appeal is that "it was all better in the olden days" Hollande reminded the country that France is not about nostalgia but hopefulness.
Urging audacity - "l'audace" - was an echo, it has been pointed out, of Danton's appeal to the French in the face of the Prussian threat in 1792. Not, I imagine, in this case Mme Merkel.
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