Centrist French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron extended his lead in the polls over his far-right rival Marine Le Pen today, the final day of campaigning in a tumultuous election race that has turned the country's politics upside down.
Sunday's election is seen as the most important in France for decades, with two diametrically opposed views of Europe and France's place in the world at stake.
The National Front's Le Pen would close borders and quit the euro currency, while independent Macron, who has never held elected office, wants closer European cooperation and an open economy.
The candidates of France's two mainstream parties, which have alternated in power for decades, were both eliminated in the first round of voting on 23 April.
An Ifop-Fiducial survey this afternoon, hours before official campaigning closes at midnight, showed Mr Macron on course to win 63% of votes in the second round and Ms Le Pen 37%, the best score for Mr Macron recorded by a major polling organisation since mid-April.
Four other polls earlier in the day put Mr Macron on 62% and Ms Le Pen on 38%, and a fifth showed Mr Macron on 61.5%, as his second-round campaign gained ground following a stuttering start last week.
Pollsters said Mr Macron had been boosted by his performance in a rancorous final televised debate between the two contenders on Wednesday, which the centrist was judged by French viewers to have won, according to two surveys.
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Mr Macron's strong showing in the debate, and another poll this week showing his En Marche! (Onwards!) movement likely to emerge as the biggest party in June legislative elections, have lifted the mood among investors worried about the upheaval a Le Pen victory could cause.
The gap between French and German 10-year government borrowing costs hit a new six-month low today.
European shares eased after a week of gains that were partly driven by easing political worries in France.
"Despite that almost nobody expects a surprise, meaning Macron is the overwhelming favourite to win and become the new French president, traders seem to favour (taking) a bit of money off the table," said City of London Markets trader Markus Huber.
Emergency talks held on security
Paris's police chief called emergency talks on security ahead of the election after Greenpeace activists scaled the Eiffel Tower in broad daylight and unfurled a political banner.
Separately, police arrested a "radicalised" man in the city of Evreux, west of the capital, in circumstances that were not immediately clear but which, judicial sources said, were linked to a counter-terrorist inquiry.
A dozen activists from the Greenpeace advocacy group climbed the north face of the structure to hang a banner carrying the French national motto, "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite" (Liberty,Equality, Fraternity).
The incident exposed security concerns despite the fact that France is deploying extra police for voting day on Sunday.
These come on top of thousands of police and soldiers mobilised following attacks by Islamist militants which have killed more than 230 people in France in the past two-and-a-half years.
"Above and beyond the motives, this publicity stunt, in the current climate, exposes faults in the security arrangements at the Eiffel Tower," police prefect Michel Delpuech said.
Mr Delpuech said the emergency meeting would involve police as well as officials from Paris City Hall and the company that runs the tower erected in 1889 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution.
A dozen Greenpeace activists were detained for questioning, police sources said.
Greenpeace said a dozen activists were involved, hoisting a 300-square-metre banner at around 7.45am local time, which is before normal business hours but well after dawn has broken at this time of year.
"We wanted to say we are against the rise of nationalism and authoritarianism in France and in other countries," Greenpeace France's head, Jean-Francois Julliard, added on public radio station francinfo.
Voters will flock to more than 10,000 polling stations around France over a period of 10 or 12 hours on Sunday before preliminary estimates of the result are announced at around 6pm Irish time.
