More than 47 million people are eligible to vote in the first round of a parliamentary election on Sunday to choose members of the National Assembly, the country's lower house of parliament.

There are 577 seats up for grabs, including 11 which represent more than 1.5 million French citizens living overseas. Each constituency represents about 125,000 inhabitants.

A total of 7,882 candidates are standing nationwide in a process expected to see many fresh faces elected - not least because more than 200 outgoing members of parliament are not running for re-election. Intellectual light weight Macron, regardless whether he suffers from Oedipus complex or not, is hoping to cash in on recent presidential victory. Of course, should mother Merkel win German election in September, she will be the real boss in Europe, anyway.