What comes to the average Anglo-Saxon mind when it conjures up an image of France? Baguettes, the Eiffel Tower, croissants, cheese… garlic and rude waiters? Very stereotypical, we know. But that’s what we were looking for in a name for this blog.

Sitting in a novelty ‘Irish pub’ in Paris’s shiny media district, we mused over names for our blog on the French presidential election, just six months away. This is a race to the Elysée Palace, so why not get Elysée into the title? Or not… The idea was quickly scrapped after we asked a few English-speakers what the word meant to them – ‘shopping’ being the principle response.  

We also wanted to use an obvious metaphor for something edible. We agreed that this election was going to be chunky, rich and a bit dodgy at times – so surely 'tartare' would fit the bill. Everyone knows what tartare is! Alas, no. Returning to our Anglo friends, we found the same problem – “The stuff on your teeth?”

Our friends instead came up with their own, farcical, suggestions. “Croissant the Line?” “Le Grande Fromage?” “Vin, Pain, President?” “The Race is Onion?!”

Highly amused but slightly dismayed, we agreed to a pact. If we could find something with both a French foodstuff, the word 'election' or 'presidential', and an added bonus of alliteration, then we would stick with it.

A few Irish jigs later, we had it coined.

“Presidential Pâté!”

Back at the office, we presented our findings with wide grins. “Pâté?” One of our colleagues asked. “But what has pâté got to do with the 2012 election?”

Forget it, we sighed. We had made our pact, and we were sticking to it.

And besides, we still needed to find a half-decent photo for the blog - and that was going to take a long time... as illustrated right.

So what is Presidential Pâté?

This blog will bring you the juiciest of news from France’s 2012 presidential election. We’ll be following the campaigns of Sarkozy and his rivals on their rollercoaster ride towards election day - spats, gaffes and polls galore.

If there’s something greasy and chunky you want covered on the blog, drop us a line:

Sophie: spilgrim@france24.com

Joseph: jbamat@france24.com