Joy erupted Wednesday morning in Paris at the Young Democrats Abroad party at ritzy club, Palais Maillot, as the young voters celebrated President Barack Obama's successful re-election bid. By 2:30 am, the crowd had already thinned out and those brave enough to wait until the 5 am announcements, were pleasantly surprised, and more so, relieved.
Roopa Chauhan, 39, an American living in Paris said "I'm very happy. I was a little nervous at the beginning of the night. It's great to be surrounded by other Americans in Paris."
Aurelien's took pride in his first time voting in U.S. elections.
"I chose to re-elect Obama to give him the chance to be the president he couldn't be before because of the challenges he encountered in 2008. I draw a parallel with [former French President] Sarkozy. I voted for Sarkozy this year to see what could happen." he said.
Aurelien's, 24, who is half French and half American, claims to feel quite liberal in regards to some issues, but more conservative with others. According to him, this is what makes Obama the better candidate.
"I'm gay, so I don't believe that government should dictate who should be able to marry whom. However, I believe in controlled immigration. I want to give Obama a second chance, for these issues."
Nicolene Mallet, a French citizen out in support of American democrats, said she supported Obama's bid because as a Libertarian, she felt he was the next best option behind primary candidate Ron Paul.
"He was very tough in Afghanistan. He got Bin Laden. I think in some ways, he's more Republican than some people think. People thought he would be very lenient on immigration, but he was actually tougher on immigration issues than Bush or any Republican administration before. So, I think it would be misjudging him to call him lenient. As far as the economy goes, I don't think Mitt Romney's plan was any better than Barack Obama's."
"I think French people are mostly for Obama. I'm most excited about healthcare issues and women's rights," Chauhan said.
German citizen, Arthur Scherer, 20, was also happy to see Obama win.
"I'm relieved and excited. I don't know how the Romney administration would have turned out. I'm just happy to know that there is some continuity in US foreign and domestic policy."
The rest of France awoke to the news with mixed emotions. The country overwhelmingly supported Obama and celebrated Wednesday morning's victory with bold newspaper covers featuring Obama. The daily Liberation newspaper featured Obama's image along with the word "yes."
Picking up eggs at his local cheese shop Wednesday morning, Lionel Pouliquen was ambivalent.
"Obama won as predicted. No surprise. I wasn't a supporter of either him or Romney. Is there really a difference? In a 45 minute foreign policy debate, they didn't discuss Europe once. That's revealing."
Walking his son around Montmartre, Nicolas Sowels, a French citizen for the past 30 years originally from Britain, was happy Obama won, but couldn't say whether he was excited about the results.
"I didn't really want the Republicans to win, like a lot of people in Europe who prefer Obama. We're a bit disappointed with what he's done so far in the second term. He will be able to be more progressive domestically in terms of taxation and maybe move forward with a peace solution in the Middle East."
Moroccan national Abi Koussai, relaxing at a cafe over a bowl of milky coffee and a croissant hoped that Obama's re-election meant hope for certain Middle East states.
"I'm so happy. I think all Moroccans are happy. I hope for more democracy, particularly with Syria. They figured out what to do with Libya and Gaddafi. Why not Assad? Why?"