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Article snippet: PARIS — Against the regal backdrop of a grand reception room in youngest president in modern French history. In his short speech to mark the occasion, he encouraged the French to embrace the future, to hold him to a high standard and to join him in the hard work ahead. “I reassure you that not for a single second did I think that everything changed as if by magic on May 7,” Mr. Macron said of the day he was elected. “This will be slow work, demanding, but indispensable. It will be up to me to convince the French that our country, which seems threatened by the sometimes contrary winds of the world, carries in its heart all the resources to be a nation of the first rank.” The new president is wasting no time. On Sunday afternoon, Mr. Macron, as the new commander in chief, visited wounded soldiers at a military hospital outside Paris. On Monday, he is expected to travel to Berlin to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, France’s most important ally in Europe, and will also announce his pick for prime minister. By midweek, the rest of his government is expected to be named. Before week’s end, he is scheduled to visit French soldiers serving in places such as Mali and the Central African Republic. Mr. Macron said his presidency would be guided by two concerns: finding ways to help the French “have confidence in themselves again” and making France prosperous and strong. The country faces persistent high unemployment, especially among its youth — unemployment t... Link to the full article to read more