Front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy was preparing for a last big Paris rally while Socialist rival Segolene Royal visited a state support service for the homeless as France's presidential election headed into its final week on Sunday. Sarkozy, a pro-American conservative and former interior minister, was holding a five-point lead over Royal, who would become France's first woman president, in the latest poll. He has led in nearly every poll this year. The election finale takes place May 6, according to AP. Royal, after visiting a homelessness services office south of Paris, and Sarkozy were each expected to make brief appearances on Canal Plus TV on Sunday. Supporters of Sarkozy, meanwhile, were headed to Bercy stadium in eastern Paris for a rally expected to draw thousands of supporters. Sarkozy has been looking to regain the limelight after Royal's debate Saturday with centrist former candidate Francois Bayrou, who was a strong third in the April 22 first round. Bayrou didn't endorse her _ nor did she ask for him to _ but they spoke cordially about their similarities and differences. The 6.8 million voters who cast ballots for Bayrou in the primary have become pivotal to Royal's hopes of beating Sarkozy. Sarkozy has lashed out at Royal and Bayrou over the unprecedented debate between the No. 2 and No. 3 vote-getters in the first round, and in an interview published Sunday, said their face-off fostered «confusion.» -- SPA
