French citizens here went to their embassy in Cluny Park Road yesterday to cast their votes in the first round of France's most unpredictable presidential election in decades. There were 11 candidates in the first round of the two-round election. The two front-runners will move on to the run-off on May 7. At the French Embassy here, which saw a stream of voters over the day, polls opened at 8am and closed at 7pm. There were nearly 14,000 French citizens registered with the embassy at the end of last year. This is a 40 per cent jump from the 10,000 in 2013. The actual figure is probably higher, as registration is not mandatory.