I don't like to give up on a whole country. There are French FReepers (including, supposedly, Mademoiselle Herold herself). Perhaps Herold's kind of conservatism is not what most of us would like here. But it's got to be better, both for us and for France, than Chirac's.
I guess one should always hold out hope that some sort of mass awakening will happen which will jolt the electorate into a new way of looking at things, but I just don't see anything at this time that makes me believe it will happen in France anytime soon.
Chirac's despicable government and his even more despicable prime minister are presumably preferable to the government which will undoubtedly win the next elections, the Socialists. Genuinely conservative parties in France are insignificant players.