We spent four months in rural France. Enjoying both the beauty and the tranquility as we cruised on bucolic waterways and visited small but charming towns. Jeannie and I were almost apprehensive about returning to Paris. Could we handle being back in a large city – two-million people in Paris proper, 13-million in the greater Paris region?
This is rue Rambuteau in the Marais on a Saturday afternoon in mid-October. It was a bit of a shock.
These people are not going to or coming from an event of some sort. It is simply a sunny, fall Saturday in Paris. We are still adjusting.
It’s not just rue Rambuteau that’s crowded. It seems like everyone in Paris has decided to be outdoors.
While most of the people out on the streets today are simply out to enjoy the day – others have a message they want to get across.
It is No Kings Day. While millions are marching in the U.S. to show their contempt for Trump, Americans in Paris are letting their voices be heard, too.
The No Kings protest is not the only demonstration going on today. It’s Paris.
On my way back to Aleau, I end up at the rear of another one.
I can tell it’s the rear by the police coming up behind me – on foot and in vans.
Thousands of people come out for these marches. The police presence is rarely required. The smashing of windows and the setting of fires is not done by the marchers – but by a small group of anarchists who use demonstrations as an opportunity to destroy anything they can. Like most of the others that happen regularly in Paris, this one ends peacefully. But police are always nearby.
It’s sometimes hard to tell who’s protesting and why.
These flags say they represent a communist union. When I ask some marchers why they’re there, they say it’s because of immigrants. Confused, I ask, “For them or against them?” They laugh and say, “For.”
We are getting close to Place de la Bastille. It sits above the marina where Aleau is moored.
The mood is festive. But something has changed. The crowd is different.
This part of the march is about gay rights – more specifically support for the LGBTQIA2S community. Sometimes it’s hard to tell where one group of marchers begins and the other ends – or maybe they are all here in support of the LGBTQIA2S community.
As I approach the column at Place de la Bastille, I see plumes of smoke – not from tear gas but the red, white, and blue of the French flag. Jeannie and I are happy to be back in Paris – but it is going to take some adjusting.
