Three hours ago I was Skyping with C. and saying that I had done a few things today but nothing terribly exciting -- then it started. At first it was a series of loud bangs like someone was throwing heavy objects into a dumpster from the roof, sirens wailing, loud voices, bullhorns -- then the helicopters came.
While riding the Metro this morning I had heard announcements that the train unions were holding a one-day strike today and to expect some delays and disruptions to service.
UPDATE: My apologies to the train union, the protest I got caught-up in was an activist group protesting changes to France's labor laws -- it was staged throughtout the country -- a number of people got hurt, almost two hundred arrested, cars set on fire -- next one is planned for May 01 and again on May 02 -- should be interesting. Major tv story here -- surprised it's not even mentioned in the Western media.
Not a big deal -- when I lived in San Francisco a number of years ago I had experienced protests and demonstrations and even crossed picket lines in the process of going where I needed to go, so I wasn't terribly concerned here.
Then I decided to go to the grocery store around the corner and pick-up a couple bottles of wine -- that's when things changed. One minute I'm walking down the street minding my own business, the next I'm swept up in a crowd of hundreds of protestors marching down the middle of the street protesting something -- signs, banners, drums, those stupid horns you hear at sporting events, marchers , arms locked yelling slogans or something and waving their arms (again, my French is not there yet), automobiles filled with more protestors blowing their horns -- all I had tried to do was cross the street at a corner with some other people -- part way, crossing became not an option -- so it was down the block with police and ambulance sirens blaring in the background, police in riot gear and batons blocking the side streets and helicopters hovering above. Fortunately, I was able to slide off to the side after "marching" about half a block and continue on my way. Now, on tonight's news, I'm learning that the earlier bangs I heard were police flash-bang grenades, that some of the protestors had set fires in the streets, had otherwise made a mess of the streets prior to my showing-up and that this was probably not the best place for me to have been -- although, admittedly, by the time I got caught-up, all the "fun" stuff had already happened and the protest was winding down. Am seriously thinking about going to Brussels next week -- need a break from this leisurely Parisian lifestyle I'm living!
This morning I had taken the Metro to the Marais neighborhood to visit the Place des Vosges, the oldest square in Paris with buildings dating from the early 1600's. The buildings are very striking, totally enclosing the square requiring you to walk through arches underneath the buildings to get into the park that's in the center of the square. What's interesting are the ground floor walkways with vaulted ceilings made of brick original to the period with what appear, in many cases, to be the original wooden doors as well. A quiet, non-hussle-bussle area of town.
From there I got back on the Metro and headed for the Les Halles part of Paris again, hoping to see the Tour of Jeans sans Peur and the Eglice St Eustache that had been closed on my first tries earlier in the week. Tour Jean was still closed -- the draw was getting to climb 140 steep stairs up a spiral staircase to the top of a turret for views of Paris -- I've done nothing but climb stairs since I've been here and, other places (that are open), offer similar views -- think I'll pass on a third trip to the Tour.
The Eglice St Eustache, on the other hand, was an entirely different experrience -- I feel like I'm using the term "amazing" too frequently to describe things -- but there is no other word for this church. It's built in the Gothic style and dates from the 1500's and is everything you'd expect from that time -- it's huge, stonework and wood. The main alter occupies the center of the building (seating maybe a thousand people) with small chapels (dedicated to various Saints) lining the outside walls. The stained glass windows, donated hundreds of years ago by various trade guilds, are extraordinary, and, today, with the sun shining through them, were "blazing away in all their glory!" There is beautiful stained glass in the States but what is here is just worlds above and beyond anything I've ever seen before. The woodcarving and stonework is unbelievable, and the paintings (although many are copiesof the Masters from hundreds of years ago) are fantastic. Very glad I made it back to St Eustache!
Put up the rest of the photos this afternoon so am finally caught-up there -- looking at the Gallery though, it's obvious I need to do some clean-up and editing -- something to do later tonight. Another thing I want to try and start to do is focus some on the people I'm encountering and not just the sights/buildings -- it'll be challenging -- Paris is a big city with a "big city" attitude plus I've been told and observed, that the French people as a whole, are great around friends and family but very stand-offish around strangers and not prone to having their picture be taken -- am in the midst of developing casual relationships with a few (a butcher, a baker and a couple who run a soup cafe around the corner) -- hope to be allowed to tell their stories in the future.
