The thing about Emmanuel Macron is that, in the end, everyone gives way to the charm.
See him on campaign last week: he was talking to hardline CGT union members at a soon-to-close factory in the north. These guys hate everything he stands for. Their jobs are going to Poland.
And yet they weren't baying for his blood, they were listening.
A day later he could be talking to a symposium of stuffed-shirt bosses; or a raucous crowd of banlieue teenagers; or some funky young start-up types. And they would all be listening with the same intent.
As someone said in a recent documentary on France's new president: "The guy could seduce an office chair."
Whatever they may think of his politics, the French have had the sense to elect as their leader one of the most brilliant figures of his generation. Charming, of course. But also super-smart, energetic, not corrupt, creative, young, optimistic.
Emmanuel Macron (centre) used his powers of persuasion during a recent meeting with CGT union activists