!['Allez putain!': The French vocab and songs you'll need for Euro 2024](https://apiwp.thelocal.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=webp,width=300,quality=75/https://apiwp.thelocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/AFP__20240620__34XY4N8__v6__Preview__FranceTrainingSessionAndPressConferenceGroupDUe.jpg)
!['Allez putain!': The French vocab and songs you'll need for Euro 2024](https://apiwp.thelocal.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=webp,width=300,quality=75/https://apiwp.thelocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/AFP__20240620__34XY4N8__v6__Preview__FranceTrainingSessionAndPressConferenceGroupDUe.jpg)
![OPINION: After the elections, the battle for the soul of France begins](https://apiwp.thelocal.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=webp,width=616,quality=75/https://apiwp.thelocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AFP__20170205__LF6KX__v4__Preview__France2017VoteFarRight.jpg)
OPINION: After the elections, the battle for the soul of France begins
Stripped of the noise and confusion of the campaign, Sunday's second round of voting will in many places be a straight choice between a candidate of the Far Right and a candidate of the anti-Far Right 'republican front' - writes John Lichfield. It will show whether French voters do truly want a Le Pen government - and will kick-start a long and chaotic battle over the future of France.