Valerie Trierweiler: I felt like I was falling from a skyscraper when I learnt of President François Hollande's affair with Julie Gayet

 
Speaking out: Valerie Trierweiler holds a child during her visit to Mumbai yesterday
EPA
Peter Allen29 January 2014

The bitter war of words between Valerie Trierweiler and François Hollande continued today as she revealed that learning about his affair had felt like “falling from a skyscraper”.

The French president effectively sacked his first lady in a curt 18-word statement on Saturday, but today she appeared on the cover of the latest Paris Match — the glossy weekly where she remains on staff.

The headline reads: “Valerie Trierweiler speaks to Match: ‘When I knew, I felt like I was falling from a skyscraper’.”

Meanwhile, Hollande is said to have joked about Ms Trierweiler’s histrionic language. After leaving the presidential palace, she tweeted: “All my gratitude to the extraordinary Elysée staff. I will never forget their devotion nor emotion at the point of departure.”

Interview: Trierweiler on the front cover of Paris Match

According to today’s Le Canard Enchainé, the investigative weekly, Hollande said: “If there are people who wish to leave the Elysée overcome by emotion, they should tell me over the next few days.”

The newspaper revealed that in a Soviet-style operation, 130 images of Ms Trierweiler and all references to her had been eradicated from the Elysée website by the president’s staff.

Ms Trierweiler has already spent a great deal of time telling journalists about her reaction to Mr Hollande’s two-year affair with 41-year-old actress Julie Gayet.

She said it was “like being hit by a high-speed train” before checking herself into a hospital for eight days with stress. On a charity trip to India, she blamed “low blows”, “betrayals” and “back-stabbing” for the break-up.

Trierweiler said she would not be returning to the “cynicism” of political journalism and plans to become a humanitarian campaigner.

However, she has been widely mocked in France for travelling around Mumbai in a chauffeur-driven limousine and staying in the five-star Taj Palace Hotel.

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