The champagne flows, the shouts echo, and the Marseillaise sounds.
"Marin! Marin! Marin!" - chanted the crowd in a triumphant mood. The results of the first round of the parliamentary elections in France show a clear victory for the far-right National Assembly (NA) party.
They did not have to wait long before the icon of the French far right, three-time presidential candidate and the woman credited with turning the party into a competitive political force, announced that the formation was aiming for an absolute majority and the post of prime minister of the second round.
The results mark "a determination to turn the page after seven years" of President Emmanuel Macron's rule, Marine Le Pen told the crowd, adding that she wants Jordan Bardela to become prime minister.
She claimed an emphatic victory in the first round of her term in Hennes-Beaumont, a region in northern France. One of the regions where NS has flourished in recent years.
The party promised to boost purchasing power, drastically limit immigration and restore law and order. Le Pen has sought to tone down the extremes of the past, even as her opponents accuse her of being racist.
"We've tried everything and it's not working, so why not try a National Assembly?" Jonathan, a Le Pen supporter, told AFP.
"Act on security, youth employment, give more purchasing power. Lower the price of gas, which is too expensive. Some people can't go to work because they don't have enough money to put gas in their car." he said.
"I'm waiting for Mr. Bardella or other people to pay attention to what's going on and work to increase purchasing power," said 60-year-old Gilles Janiaczyk.
"Maybe we should make things right with the people who live here and can't adapt to our country," she added.
Lydi Mafis, a retiree, 79, who voted for the president's centrist alliance, said: "My generation has known parties that were, shall we say, a little more moderate. And now we've gone to the extremes. And that's the problem."
At the other end of the country, in the French Mediterranean port city of Marseille, in densely populated neighborhoods with a large immigrant population, the mood is often quite different.
"I am worried about the possibility of the far right emerging because we are in a cosmopolitan city with a working class and this could disrupt the way of life we have here. We risk spreading racist speech in public services," said teacher Jean-Francois Pepin , 49 years old
Outside one of the schools in Cite des Oliviers, in the north of Marseille, "we have never seen a queue like this to vote, and so much the better," said the committee chairman as the vote took place.
Many were motivated to vote by the risk of a National Assembly taking power, even those who avoided European elections earlier in June.
"If we have a choice, we better go and vote," said 40-year-old Nabil Agueni. "I came to oppose the National Assembly because it will remove all aid. The country needs aid, we are not all equal," he declared.
Ines Dowd voted for the first time at the age of 19 along with her mother Wahiba. "To be honest, we don't want the National Assembly. We don't have a specific party, but there is a mix in the family, from Algeria, Comoros, Morocco," Wahiba said.
After voting in Wissembourg, on the eastern edge of France, near the border with Germany, Thierry, 58, did not reveal which party he voted for, but said he thought Macron's decision to call early elections was a "good idea".
"I hope it will lead to something consistent, able to meet the wishes of the French. Whether Pierre, Paul or Jacques wins, we must respect the choice," he stressed. I BGNES
