As Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, settle in to the Elysee Palace, their unconventional partnership stands as a symbol of the changes the new president is aiming to bring about in France.
She's almost 25 years his senior. They met when she taught him drama at high school. And while they have no children, the 39-year-old head of state is a youthful step-grandfather to her extended family. But far from downplaying his atypical marriage, Macron embraces it as a symbol of his boldness, his ability to challenge the established order, even of his powers of seduction.
"That transgression that he fought for as a young man in bourgeois, provincial France led to the sense of transgression that drove his run for president," said Jean Garrigues, a professor of political history at the University of Orleans. "The question is, will that still work as he takes power?"