Paris: Hours after his latest prime minister was forced to resign – unable to form a cabinet that lasted more than a day – French President Emmanuel Macron was spotted walking alone by the Seine in the chilly autumn morning.

Bodyguards kept their distance ahead and behind as he wandered out through a wrought iron gate onto the stone embankment in a black overcoat.

The scene, captured from afar on video and shown on France’s BFMTV, evoked images of former French president Charles de Gaulle seeking solace in the wind-swept plains of Ireland after his resignation in the late 1960s – a leader retreating inward as his political era drew to a close.

Macron is president until 2027, but the resignation of Sebastien Lecornu – his fifth prime minister in two years – has raised the chances that

See Full Page