Trierweiler leaves hospital as Hollande visits political heartland

Valérie Trierweiler, the official partner to French President François Hollande, has reportedly left the hospital in Paris where she had stayed following reports Hollande was having an affair with an actress. 

François Hollande and Valérie Trierweiler together. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/Files

Paris Match, a magazine that employs Trierweiler as a journalist, said the 48-year old left Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris just after 3pm on Saturday. She is expected to spend the next few days at La Lanterne, the President's official residence at Versailles just outside Paris, according to sources the magazine contacted.

Trierweiler admitted herself to the hospital after celebrity magazine Closer reported earlier this month that Hollande was having an affair with French actress Julie Gayet.

For Hollande, it was business as usual on Saturday as he opened a new fire station at the town of Vigeois in Corrèze, the department where he began his political career in 1988 as the region’s representative in the National Assembly.

He then gave a speech at Tulle, the capital of Corrèze, reiterating a promise made earlier this week to cut company taxes in order to boost the flagging French economy.

The normally low-key visit attracted 93 journalists, including foreign reporters from the UK and Germany eager to ask questions about the alleged affair.

However, a journalist for the local La Montagne newspaper said Hollande “did not make a single reference” on the media interest on his private life.

While Hollande has not confirmed nor denied an affair, he has promised to announce whether Trierweiler will accompany him on a visit to the United States next month.

Public reaction to the scandal has been muted in France. A poll by polling agency BVA for the news channel i-Tele released on Saturday showed 75 percent of respondents agreed that Hollande was right not to answer questions on his personal life during a high-profile news conference on Tuesday.

Sixty-two percent believed the affair was a private matter of no public concern.