It is 20:00 on the evening of 7 May 2017, and the first exit polls have been fed through to rolling TV news.

And (the announcer tells us), the next president of the Republic of France is - Francois Hollande.

Cue a very happy man strolling through the Elysee gardens.

Of course today it sounds utterly implausible. France's head of state has given the word unpopularity a whole new meaning, the country is a strike-bound, demoralised mess.

• Hollande digs in as rail strike looms
• Stakes rise as fuel runs low
• Does France's workforce really have it easy?
• Protests as government pushes through bill
• French jokes about fuel shortages

And yet the scenario is not totally to be dismissed. Certainly there is one person who believes it might come to pass.

And that person is Francois Hollande himself.

The last few weeks have seen the French press engage in a repetitive guessing game: will he, won't he, will he join the dance? (To quote The Lobster Quadrille).

Will he, or will he not, take on once again the mantle of the left and stake a claim for re-election?