On May 7, and at just 39 years old, Emmanuel Macron could become the youngest ever French president.
A year ago he did not even have a party he could call his own. The former economy minister in the socialist Hollande government quit last year to form his own movement, En Marche! (On the Move).
His first party meeting was so low key, there is no video record of it. The idea that a former civil servant, investment banker and presidential adviser could soon be running the country may have seemed a distant dream, but then politics everywhere is full of surprises.
The difference this time is the likely winner of the second round is not from the far right — he's no Trump.
And while he casts himself as an outsider — crisp, clean and unsullied by old politics — he is a product of the very system he now says needs renovation, if not detonation.
"I heard in the last months and again today the doubts, the anger and the fears of the French people, and also its appetite for change," Mr Macron said.
"This is what led them tonight to push the two big parties that have governed it for more than 30 years away from responsibility.
"In one year we have changed the face of French politics."
For some of his supporters, it's about generational change and a departure from the two-party turnaround that has dominated French politics for decades.
"He is 39, he is young, he has good ideas. I think that with a strong cabinet, he could bring something good for France and I think he has the right profile," 25-year-old Parisian Lena said.
Vazlya, also from Paris said: "I've been voting since 1988 and I've never seen such a phenomenon".
"We live in a cynical and sinister period and he is never cynical, he is never sinister and I hope he will win on May 7."
If he does win, how will France change?
His economic agenda is conservative with cuts in business taxes, public spending and even the number of MPs. About the only area of increased government spending will be on 10,000 extra police.
In stark contrast to his far right opponent, Marine Le Pen, he is a strong supporter of the European Union, though he says it needs to be reorganised and revitalised.
He has supported Germany's open door policy for Syrian refugees, while his opponents' share a closed door view of outsiders.
Even his detractors concede Mr Macron is an energetic and determined man who told his school friends he would one day be the president of France.
One of those he confided in at the tender age of 16 was his high school drama teacher, Brigitte Trogneau. He told her that he would return and marry her, even though at the time she had a husband who was father to their three children.
That promise was kept, and she is likely to be the first lady at 64 standing by her husband aged 39.
Nothing much, it seems, stands between this bright young man and his ambitions. And with the support of both the socialists and conservatives, he looks a good bet for the Elysse Palace.
Expectations will be high. And in a messy world with unresolved tensions in all directions, it's a very big load on such young shoulders.
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