The ethnically diverse northeastern suburbs of Paris are traditionally a bastion of the political left – and of voter abstention. With France’s legislative elections just days away, activists are battling widespread apathy and resignation as they seek to get out the vote and bar Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally from power.
On a balmy afternoon, several hundred people are gathered on a lawn outside the town hall of Clichy-sous-Bois for the fête de la ville – the annual town party in this northeastern suburb of Paris.
