Germany's chancellor and France's president have very different ideas on the Greek crisis. | EPA Hollande to Merkel: What planet are you on? He’s from Venus, she’s from Mars on the Greek crisis.

When Angela Merkel traveled to Paris this week to meet François Hollande, the idea was to show a united Franco-German front in the Greek crisis.

That impression lasted for six minutes — the amount of time the two leaders spent in front of journalists before disappearing for dinner.

Since then, statements on Greece from political leaders in both countries have diverged so radically in tone and meaning that France and Germany appear to be seeing the crisis from different planets: one where the atmosphere is made up mostly of optimism for a Greek rescue and democratic zeal; the other where everyone has given up on Greece and openly contemplates “Grexit.”

To be sure, politicians on either side of the Rhine are reflecting the opinions of voters who feel very differently about Greece, and the differences between Paris and Berlin aren’t new. Paris has pushed for a less punitive approach to Greece since the beginning of the crisis, when former president Nicolas Sarkozy advocated common debt issuance and argued against including the International Monetary Fund in the rescue — both proposals that Germany ended up knocking down.

Even so, France and Germany appeared more unified at the time than they do now, with the Greek crisis polarizing voters in both countries. By failing to challenge domestic public opinion, and instead reinforcing national reflexes, French and German politicians are feeding an impression of permanent crisis in Europe which diplomats insist does not reflect reality.

“Told you so,” former British conservative party chief William Hague wrote Wednesday in The Telegraph. “Europe should have listened when I said the eurozone can’t work.”

In France, socialist leaders avoid discussing the possibility of “Grexit” in public. Hollande, who said during his appearance with Merkel that Europe needed to show solidarity on Greece, has also been reluctant to use the term. Only after a downbeat summit on Greece Tuesday night did he mention a Greek exit from the euro, saying it was an option if talks failed.

Socialist party chief Jean-Christophe Cambadélis warned in an op-ed in Le Monde Wednesday of dire economic, social and strategic consequences if Greece were to leave the euro.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls insisted during a parliament debate on Greece that France would do anything in its power to keep the country in the eurozone. Allowing it to leave would be an “admission of weakness” that could cause profound economic damage and carry strategic risks for Europe.

“An exit from the euro would bring a collapse in revenue, skyrocketing import prices, including for basic goods, with social and political consequences that none of us can foresee. Is that what we want for the Greek people?” Valls said, in a speech that received loud and lengthy applause.

The prime minister added that Greece needed a “clear perspective” on the treatment of its debt — a notion that remains deeply unpopular in Germany.

On that front he was echoing Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, who said this week that the eurozone should consider “rescaling” Greek debt in exchange for a program of reforms; and Finance Minister Michel Sapin, who told the same chamber earlier that any plan for Greece would have to include investment and a discussion of Athens’ debt burden.

“We don’t make debt into a major problem, in the sense that we don’t want it to be an obstacle to a deal that is absolutely necessary,” said Christophe Caresche, a socialist deputy close to Valls. “France considers that the risks and consequences of a disorderly Greek exit from the euro are far graver than the danger from rescaling their debt.”

The French position got a major vote of confidence Thursday when European Council President Donald Tusk endorsed providing debt relief for Athens if it steps forward with a realistic economic reform proposal.

Now switch to Planet Merkel, where toughness on the Greek question translates into better approval scores, and where “Grexit” is what the German majority wants.

In an interview with the Tagesspiegel newspaper published Monday, Germany’s Social Democrat Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel — a potential candidate for the Chancellery next year — said that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had “torn down the last bridges on which Greece and Europe could have moved towards a compromise.”

The tough talk by Gabriel, who has otherwise sold himself as an advocate of the Franco-German partnership as part of a duo with Macron, appeared aimed at trying to appear tougher on Greece than Merkel.

But many in his party felt that he went too far. The SPD prides itself on its pro-European credentials and a number of senior officials in the party accused Gabriel of violating the party’s pro-EU principles for political advantage. On Monday he was forced to qualify his remarks, saying the Greeks had his “utmost respect” for their vote, and stressing that Europe needed to stand by Greece, whatever the outcome of the negotiations.

Still, Gabriel’s flip-flop underscores just how central the Greece question has become to Germany’s domestic political debate. Both the SPD and Merkel’s Christian Democrats, which govern together in a grand coalition, know that most Germans oppose sending further aid to Greece. But Gabriel knows that such a step is likely unavoidable and is trying to distance himself from the decision, leaving Merkel to justify it.

Several senior lawmakers in Merkel’s conservative bloc speak openly of Grexit, describing it as the best of many bad options for resolving the Greek crisis.

“Now one has to ask the question of whether Greece would not be better off outside the eurozone,” Hans Michelbach, a member of the Bavarian Christian Social Union, told Reuters. “Unfortunately, Greece has chosen a path of isolation.”

That hard line echoed statements by Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s highly popular finance minister, who has openly entertained the possibility of a Greek exit from the eurozone.

Despite such divergent messages, diplomats in Paris insist that the French and German positions are in fact closely aligned, even identical.

Both Merkel and Hollande are determined to stave off a disorderly Greek exit from the eurozone, and will closely examine detailed reform proposals expected Thursday from the Greek government in exchange for a new bailout.

The crucial question of whether Europe should restructure Greek debt for a second time — the key demand from Athens — is largely a matter of wording and timing, i.e., how long after Greece has implemented its reforms can Europe review the debt payment schedule.

But such nuance is often lost in domestic politics.