From the lecture halls of the elite Ecole National d'Administration (ENA) to the summit of the state, affairs of the heart have played a central role in Hollande's political journey.

The next step in that journey comes on Tuesday afternoon, when Hollande is due to appear before more than 500 journalists and, the world expects, explain exactly what is going on in his private life.

With his long-term girlfriend, France's first lady Valerie Trierweiler having taken to a hospital bed with stress following the revelation of Hollande's clandestine trysts with actress Julie Gayet, that will be no easy task.

But, according to those who know him well, it is the price Hollande has to pay for his personality.

He does not seem to be a serial philanderer, unlike his "hot bunny" predecessor Jacques Chirac. But it would appear that, when passion hits, it overwhelms him to the point of clouding his judgement — as it did when he thought he could get away with nightime visits to Gayet in a borrowed apartment just yards from the Elysee Palace.