After taking the overnight ferry from England to Caen, we had to deal with one of the biggest political movements in France today – the gilets jaunes, or “yellow vests”, a vast, loosely-organized but determined group of people protesting the high cost of living in France, sparked by recent increases in the fuel tax. (FYI, the price of a gallon of gasoline is now the equivalent of more than $7 US.)
The gilets jaunes demonstrate in the fine French tradition of erecting barriers in urban centers and on thoroughfares, repeating slogans, and sometimes burning things, with an intent to garner attention by interfering with day-to-day activities. Think of the revolutionaries in “Les Miserables” and the student protests of 1968.
Our hostess at the bed and breakfast where we stayed in Normandy suggested we not attempt to drive across the countryside in the midst of the first weekend’s demonstrations, when almost 300,000 protesters shut down roads nation-wide….. Hah! Little does she know of the Sunda determination! We took back-roads and only occasionally saw gilets jaunes on the round-abouts.
To be fair, they were quite nice to us, apologizing and telling us how long our delay would be (nowhere more than a few minutes), but in some areas, they barred access to commercial areas, making life difficult for fellow citizens.
In Paris during the second weekend of protests, we were surrounded on our way to the theater by hundreds of gilets jaunes marching toward the Champs Elysees, and I have to admit feeling a frisson of apprehension, knowing it doesn’t take much to push angry people into doing ill-advised things.
(The French Me-Too movement was also demonstrating at the time….)
The night before, we had strolled the avenue toward the Arc de Triomphe:
The next day, here was the scene (photo from NY Times)…
When we emerged from the theater, the gendarmes had shut down most of the roads and subways around the central area in an attempt to contain the protesters. We had to walk far out of our way to return to our accommodation near the Eiffel Tower through eerily-empty streets, with the occasional police klaxon sounding in the night.
Disturbances have continued since we left a week ago, including unfortunately the destruction of property and defacing national monuments. Unfortunate too that peace officers felt compelled to deploy tear gas and water cannons to deal with the crowds. Without the full history from both sides, we make no value judgment either way; only observe that social/economic conditions everywhere are such that there are always those who are much worse off……
Current affairs report done – travelog to continue soon…..
Travels with Henberta 