Full speed ahead M. le Président - François Hollande filmed speeding

So François Hollande is normal! Well, in presidential terms anyway.

He was filmed speeding on his way from Paris to Normandy on Wednesday, and the French media is having a light-hearted field day with the story.

François Hollande's route (screenshot BFM TV report)

All right, Hollande wasn't actually at the wheel. But the car in which he was being driven (très normal, n'est-ce pas?) was clocked going at almost 140 kms per hour in a zone where the speed limit was set at 70 kms per hour.

And that apparently wasn't the only "misdemeanour".

His car reached speeds of almost 180 kms per hour on the motorway (the limit in France is 130) and failed to stop at the toll booth to pay.

François Hollande at D-Day landing ceremony (screenshot BFM TV)

Hollande, who's not exactly known for his perfect timekeeping, was on his way to attend a ceremony to mark the D-Day landings in 1944 and, in true paparrazi-style befitting the coverage of a president's movements, several reporters went along for the ride.

Not in the same vehicle mind you, but on motorbikes and cars trying to keep pace with Hollande.

Hence they knew exactly what speed his car was going.

Among them was a team from the rolling news channel BFM TV, happy to be one of the first to report the "scoop" that Hollande had been setting an example to the rest of us which was far from being "exemplary".

At this point it's probably worth remembering a particular clause in that "code of conduct" Hollande had all the newly-appointed government ministers sign when they took office: "to respect the rules of the road when they were driving or being driven."

  
BFM helpfully calculated what sort of punishments we more "ordinary" citizens would face if caught

They include a €3,750 fine, the immediate suspension of a driving licence for three years, six points lost and expropriation of the vehicle.

Thank goodness Hollande isn't quite as "normal" as the rest of us.