Meet France’s First Girlfriend

I hereby present to you the First Girlfriend of France, Valérie Trierweiler.

The live-in companion of François Hollande, the president of France, is twice married & divorced.  The 48 year old mother of three teenaged sons is the first unmarried French "First Lady" in the country's history. She is also the first among French presidents' partners to earn a regular salary.

The French refer to her as la première "girlfriend" de France or la première petite amie de France which both mean the first girlfriend of France. Some refer to her as the concubine of the president, while some who are simply confused use the term la premiere dame de France which means First Lady of France but she herself insists on being called Hollande's companion rather than his partner.

Valérie Trierweiler looking sexy at François Hollande's swearing-in

Valérie worked as a political journalist for the weekly magazine Paris-Match for 20 years. When interview by the New York Times, she said :

“I haven’t been raised to serve a husband. I built my entire life on the idea of independence.”

François earlier had a relationship with Ségolène Royal, during 30 years, but they never got married. She is the mother of his four children. Ségolène is the Socialist Party’s candidate who ran against Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007 and lost to him; she famously pronounced marriage to be a bourgeois institution.

Ségolène, who is 59 years, broke up with François after she discovered his affair with Valérie. This is the cause of today's intense hatred between the two main women in the life of Francois Hollande. Ségolène is always a fierce critic of François' girlfriend. Last year, Valérie caused an outrage when she tweeted support for a rival of Ségolène in a parliamentary election - one which Ségolène went on to lose. It has been rumoured the François Hollande has a daughter with another woman between Ségolène and Valérie.

It should be noted that some 50% of cohabitating French couples are unmarried. A lot of them have children together and even buy houses together. When they are young, such couples usually refer to each other as mon ami or mon amie; as they move into their 30s and beyond they tend to graduate into companion.

The fact that François Hollande isn't married did not prevent him from being elected in 2012. It was never, throughout the entire campaign, raised as an issue. François and Valérie have officially been a couple for five years. Seen from this angle, if they ever decide to get married, marriage would be only an administrative formality.

Selfishness and superficiality are terribly enlightened to the French. Although France has a christain background, the French have redesigned the family while their culture fades into the night.