French magazine Closer claims relationship with Julie Gayet began in 2011 and included weekends in south of France
François Hollande has visited France's first lady for the first time since she was hospitalised for rest following a gossip magazine's report that he was having an affair with an actor.
An official at the presidential palace said on Friday that Hollande had visited Valérie Trierweiler the previous evening. Doctors had previously prevented the French president, 59, from visiting his partner, saying she was tired and needed a complete break.
Meanwhile the tumult surrounding Hollande has grown with the publication of a string of further allegations concerning his personal life.
In a second "special edition" that went on sale on Friday morning, Closer claimed to have more allegations about the on-off relationship between Hollande and the actor Julie Gayet, which the magazine said had lasted for more than two years and included weekends spent together in the south of France.
The magazine alleges that far from being simply a fling or a recent romance, the couple have been living an "eventful idyll" since 2011, shortly before Hollande's campaign to be the Socialist party's nominee in the presidential election the following year.
During the past few years, Closer claimed, the couple have endured "ruptures and reconciliations".
Trierweiler was taken to hospital a week ago after Closer published revelations of Hollande's alleged affair. On Thursday, RTL radio claimed to have spoken to Trierweiler, who said she did not feel abandoned by him.
"François Hollande has not yet visited her in hospital, but Valérie Trierweiler doesn't want people to think he is neglecting her at such a painful time," RTL said on Thursday. "She has let it be known that it is the doctors who have banned the head of state from coming to see her … a widespread practice in cases of psychological distress."
RTL said Trierweiler was "temporarily confined and being kept at a distance from her entourage to give her space to get back on her feet. But François Hollande speaks to the care team and has met them personally."
Trierweiler, 48, was said on Thursday to be "very tired to the point of not being able to stand up", and suffering from low blood pressure as well as low morale. "She hopes to leave with her head held high and shows a willingness to fight at least for her dignity."
RTL said Trierweiler had let it be known that she had not had a "nervous breakdown" when Hollande confessed to his alleged affair with Gayet, 41, hours before Closer magazine published its claims that Hollande had been secretly leaving the Elysée Palace to meet the actor. Other newspapers and magazines claimed Trierweiler was determined to "stand by her man" and fight to save her relationship with Hollande.
Le Nouvel Observateur said she "has not the slightest intention of packing her bags". "She's OK to forgive, but not OK to leave," it said.
In its second round of "exclusive" revelations about the personal life of the French president, Closer reported on Friday that Hollande had met Gayet at an informal gathering of friends and political allies in a Paris restaurant in 2011 after the actor supported Ségolène Royal, Hollande's former partner and mother of his four children, in her unsuccessful battle against Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election. Royal had hoped to stand again, but was beaten to the nomination in a vote of party members.
Closer claimed on Friday that the pair would originally meet at an apartment in rue du Faubourg-Saint Honoré, not far from the Elysée, but stopped meeting there because a concierge had recognised them and tried to take, and sell, photographs.
The magazine quoted a restaurant owner in Mougins – a picturesque village outside Cannes where Hollande has a flat – who claimed to remember the couple dining there. Closer also reported that Gayet was seen with him in Tulle, his former parliamentary constituency, and claimed that she introduced the president to her grandmother and members of her family who live outside Paris.
After Hollande was elected president in May 2012, he celebrated with Trierweiler. A few months later the president and his so-called "first girlfriend" spent part of the summer holiday at the official residence at the Fort de Bregançon on the French riviera.
It was, said Closer, to be the presidential couple's last summer holiday together. In 2013, Trierweiler flew to Greece with two of her sons, while Hollande retreated to his constituency at Tulle in the Correze, where the magazine claimed he and Gayet were seen walking together.
Gayet has launched a lawsuit against Closer for breach of privacy, claiming €50,000 (£41,000) in damages and demanding publication of the legal award across half of the front page.
Her ex-husband Santiago Amigorena, with whom she has two sons, told Europe 1 radio: "Julie is very calm with all this and very sure of herself because nobody's done anything wrong, nobody's cheated on anyone."
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