It ain't over 'til la grosse dame chante, as they don't say in French, but every French opinion pollster now believes it will be a remarkable upset if the nation votes yes to the European constitution on Sunday.
So what was it all about? Why are France's voters about to reject a constitution that France asked for, negotiated tooth and nail (getting almost all of what it wanted in the process) and wrote (a former president, Giscard d'Estaing, chaired the convention that drafted it)?
A treaty that, moreover, undeniably strengthens France's position within the EU and incontestably marks major advances over the union's previous efforts on some of the human rights issues France holds particularly dear: it defines, for example, racial and sexual equality and the protection of children, as goals for the whole union.
It's a big question, and there are almost as many answers as there are French voters who intend to say "non". For my final French blog of the week, with two days to go before R-day, here (in no particular order) is a doubtless incomplete list of Why Just Over Half The French Are Saying Non. It's been a great debate.
guardian.co.uk / Europe
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