On my 24th birthday my ex-boyfriend bought me a package of journals with an insciption that mentioned my apparent ability to write intelligent and beautiful things. I have, since, written many an intelligent and beautiful thing (I think). However, so that it be made clear: there is no chance of beautiful or intelligent things ending up in this blog.
It is Sunday night. Paris is absolutely, extraordinarily gorgeous at this time. There is a reason for why so many romantic pieces have been written about Paris during springtime. It is very much the epitome of beauty and renaissance and joie-de-vivre. The crocuses are blooming, my tulips are sprouting, and couples who kiss like the French seem to be happily cluttering every street corner. It is not a time to be single, it is a time to fall in love.
And each April-May I do so without fail. But more than that (and much more importantly) each time I experience the luxury that is Paris In
Springtime I fall in love with life.
And it is a wonderful feeling.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
"WTF" = "Went to France."
So today was The Big Strike in France. Again.
Last week about 700,000 people took to the streets of Paris and up to perhaps even 3 million protested in all of France. I have no idea how many there were today (I've gotten a little tired of reading and hearing about it, to be honest.) As I write this there is a massive protest going on at Place de la République. Some teargas has been thrown as usual, and there have been fights with police as well as several assaults on protestors themselves.
In Paris the typical protest route is from Place d'Italie (just a few blocks from my house) to La République in the North-east of Paris. La République is a large carrefour where a huge statue stands symbolising - you guessed it - France's Republican regime. It is often the centre of social debates and protests of this nature.
From my apartment I can hear that there are protesters at Place d'Italie. The chanting started around 2:30pm, subsided completely as the protesters moved North, and now, apparently, some have returned. I can hear the deep thrum of voices chanting in the distance. Earlier I took a walk to the grocery store and could hear the banging of drums, thunderous cheering, and horns blaring from blocks away.
Today, as was the case last week, the buses, metro, and train lines were all closed and almost all flights were cancelled. The post office, electric company, and most banks were closed. Many daily newspapers and magazines refused to print anything today, school was of course cancelled, and there was basically no point in going anywhere today. I wouldn't have moved anyway in case of violence, but anyone who's not protesting really has no reason to be in the street anyway - e-v-e-r-y-t-h--i-n-g has been shut down. Grocery shopping was a 5-minute walk to the closed store and back home. Two weeks ago the protest walked from Denfert-Rochereau to Place d'Italie and took place in my street. Every single boulangerie, bank and store closed during that time, and the bank machines were spraypainted and broken. People drank beer and smoked pot and littered my pretty gates with their beer cans and posted many stickers.
My campus is still picketing tomorrow, which means that I've now missed three weeks of tutorial classes (the courses for which I actually have to submit papers and do homework for.) The lecture halls at the Pantheon have been open more or less during the strikes but I often don't go because of the protests. (A girl in one of my classes was pushed down the stairs during an argument with protestors - she sprained both ankles. I'm not going near there.)
I am in contact with my TA's for my tutorials who are trying to clamour up a way to get us notes and still see us, but so far we've been without luck.
I was supposed to have a test last week in international law, but it was pushed to tomorrow instead; yesterday it was announced that tomorrow's classes are cancelled and the campus closed. I was supposed to have a midterm on April 7th (so I cancelled my trip to see dad in Hungary) but that exam has since been cancelled also.
The irony is that after all these missed classes, Easter Break starts on Saturday. From April 8th to April 24th, students are on vacation.... Even though I've already pretty much been on vacation for the past three weeks, and many students haven't stepped into a classroom in six weeks.
Last week the Administrative Council of my school had a meeting: They have promised to do everything possible to ensure that our exams will follow through as planned for the end of the year and that if there are any delays, the latest exams will take place by June 30th.
As it is, I have about two classes left this week and then two weeks of vacation to study all the things that nobody has learned in the last three weeks. The administration is promising that our diplomas will not be affected and they'd better hold up to that, because otherwise I will stamp my feet loudly in my miniscule apartment that is becoming progressively uncomfortable for me since I CAN'T GO ANYWHERE.
I mean, I could - but when I used my bank machine on one of the 578429054 spraypainted machines in Paris my bank card was stolen by the machine. I asked for a replacement card two weeks ago and haven't received it yet since the bank itself is closed half the time.
I can't go to the library because it is either always closed or surrounded by protestors, I can't go to the campus because it's either closed or surrounded by protestors, and although the Luxembourg gardens - my favourite place to study - is open, it, too, has been the subject of protests.
All this being said, because I never leave my house to do anything but pick up mail (when the post office is open) or to buy groceries (when the grocery store is open) I really don't see very much of the protests. I am extremely safe and not going near any dangerous places. I am just sitting at home, reading and re-reading, and going stir crazy.
So no matter what happens in the protests today, tomorrow, next week or whenever - I am never at those places. So please don't worry.
And send food.
PS. Because everyone in France goes on vacation all the time and goes as far away from France as possible, I predict that in the next two weeks these issues will calm down drastically because all the French are going to party in Ibiza and won't be around to spraypaint the bank machines or burn cars.
Last week about 700,000 people took to the streets of Paris and up to perhaps even 3 million protested in all of France. I have no idea how many there were today (I've gotten a little tired of reading and hearing about it, to be honest.) As I write this there is a massive protest going on at Place de la République. Some teargas has been thrown as usual, and there have been fights with police as well as several assaults on protestors themselves.
In Paris the typical protest route is from Place d'Italie (just a few blocks from my house) to La République in the North-east of Paris. La République is a large carrefour where a huge statue stands symbolising - you guessed it - France's Republican regime. It is often the centre of social debates and protests of this nature.
From my apartment I can hear that there are protesters at Place d'Italie. The chanting started around 2:30pm, subsided completely as the protesters moved North, and now, apparently, some have returned. I can hear the deep thrum of voices chanting in the distance. Earlier I took a walk to the grocery store and could hear the banging of drums, thunderous cheering, and horns blaring from blocks away.
Today, as was the case last week, the buses, metro, and train lines were all closed and almost all flights were cancelled. The post office, electric company, and most banks were closed. Many daily newspapers and magazines refused to print anything today, school was of course cancelled, and there was basically no point in going anywhere today. I wouldn't have moved anyway in case of violence, but anyone who's not protesting really has no reason to be in the street anyway - e-v-e-r-y-t-h--i-n-g has been shut down. Grocery shopping was a 5-minute walk to the closed store and back home. Two weeks ago the protest walked from Denfert-Rochereau to Place d'Italie and took place in my street. Every single boulangerie, bank and store closed during that time, and the bank machines were spraypainted and broken. People drank beer and smoked pot and littered my pretty gates with their beer cans and posted many stickers.
My campus is still picketing tomorrow, which means that I've now missed three weeks of tutorial classes (the courses for which I actually have to submit papers and do homework for.) The lecture halls at the Pantheon have been open more or less during the strikes but I often don't go because of the protests. (A girl in one of my classes was pushed down the stairs during an argument with protestors - she sprained both ankles. I'm not going near there.)
I am in contact with my TA's for my tutorials who are trying to clamour up a way to get us notes and still see us, but so far we've been without luck.
I was supposed to have a test last week in international law, but it was pushed to tomorrow instead; yesterday it was announced that tomorrow's classes are cancelled and the campus closed. I was supposed to have a midterm on April 7th (so I cancelled my trip to see dad in Hungary) but that exam has since been cancelled also.
The irony is that after all these missed classes, Easter Break starts on Saturday. From April 8th to April 24th, students are on vacation.... Even though I've already pretty much been on vacation for the past three weeks, and many students haven't stepped into a classroom in six weeks.
Last week the Administrative Council of my school had a meeting: They have promised to do everything possible to ensure that our exams will follow through as planned for the end of the year and that if there are any delays, the latest exams will take place by June 30th.
As it is, I have about two classes left this week and then two weeks of vacation to study all the things that nobody has learned in the last three weeks. The administration is promising that our diplomas will not be affected and they'd better hold up to that, because otherwise I will stamp my feet loudly in my miniscule apartment that is becoming progressively uncomfortable for me since I CAN'T GO ANYWHERE.
I mean, I could - but when I used my bank machine on one of the 578429054 spraypainted machines in Paris my bank card was stolen by the machine. I asked for a replacement card two weeks ago and haven't received it yet since the bank itself is closed half the time.
I can't go to the library because it is either always closed or surrounded by protestors, I can't go to the campus because it's either closed or surrounded by protestors, and although the Luxembourg gardens - my favourite place to study - is open, it, too, has been the subject of protests.
All this being said, because I never leave my house to do anything but pick up mail (when the post office is open) or to buy groceries (when the grocery store is open) I really don't see very much of the protests. I am extremely safe and not going near any dangerous places. I am just sitting at home, reading and re-reading, and going stir crazy.
So no matter what happens in the protests today, tomorrow, next week or whenever - I am never at those places. So please don't worry.
And send food.
PS. Because everyone in France goes on vacation all the time and goes as far away from France as possible, I predict that in the next two weeks these issues will calm down drastically because all the French are going to party in Ibiza and won't be around to spraypaint the bank machines or burn cars.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
