Belle Epoche at the Bastille

Student riots? It sure didn't sound like a riot to me. It sounded more like Mardi Gras with sunny skies with the chants keeping time with a french rhythm section. My french friends and relatives called it Lundi Noir. Black Tuesday! Stay Inside!

The first Manifestation I minded my Ps and Q's and watched the dozens and dozens and dozens of sirens blow past my atelier window on rue de l' Hotel de Ville. After the second Manifestion I began to hear stories from my friends who had been caught up in various responses to the activies - like BHV locking its doors one afternoon after a riot broke out spontaneously in front of Hotel de Ville.


It was too beautiful by Avril 4 to stay in so I ventured into the Bastille area after lunch to watch this beautiful response by the people for the people. No burning cars. No rocks being pelted through the air... only people of every age, size, class and attitude walking together in unity to show the government their dismay with the first job law the government has enacted as a response to steep unemployment in the banlieu regions that surround Paris.

I do love the French. Yes, they have have their problems but they'll try anything to instigate change. The Bastille rises above everyone as a reminder of that very fact.