Bookpacking’s Blog

What do we think of usually when we think of Paris? Skipping along the boulevards en route to a tantalising tryst or a literary lunch? Coveting a coffee while peoplewatching from a fashionable cafe’s terrasse?

Well the big talking point this week in Paris has not been the latest rehashing of Descartes and his contribution to the foundations of modern thought, but the leaking of CCTV pictures from a Parisian night bus. It shows a man on his own being beaten up by a group of young men on a Noctilien service. Not a rare event in a big city you might think, but giving it extra spice and spurring much debate is a racial element; the victim was white while his attackers (or most of them) weren’t. Furthemore the verbal abuse they added to the kicking they gave him suggested they were not ethnically French.

Given that certain suburban housing projects of Paris flare up on a fairly regular basis (as portrayed in the film La Haine) a banlieu-backlash is unsurprising. This incident plays into the hands of the extreme right, and interviewed in Le Figaro the victim said he did not want to become a cause-celebre for those who would make political capital from his bad fortune.

A policeman was reported suspended for leaking the CCTV pictures, and a quick search of YouTube found a video which claimed the footage had been removed from YouTube, giving a link instead to an equivalent Russian site. The video claimed governmental interference, but while playing down racial tensions might be one of the motives behind the footage’s removal, its distribution certainly constituted a violation of the victim’s privacy.

Having just returned from Paris in a work capacity, and having had two clients pickpocketed, Bookpacking can testify that – like London – Paris has its dark side.

…AKA there’s no time like the past….

Spotted this week in Paris, in the English-language publication “FUSAC”:

Wanted: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. Write to 35483@fusac.org. You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed.
I have done this only once before.

So, what are you waiting for?

AKA Leffe-Lovers’ Left Bank Lunacy

Bookpacking had the good fortune to find ourselves at a loose end in Paris this Monday evening with a partner in crime; having serendipitously bumped into a fellow vagabond, from the same part of the globe as ourselves, that we see every year or so in France through work. After a suitably literary event at Shakespeare & Co, we hit the bars of Rue Descartes where the lure of Leffe at only €4 per pint was to prove our undoing. We made our way unceremoniously up Rue Mouffetard to savour the Kwak in The Mayflower, as the full force of Belgian brewing was unleashed on our unsuspecting British bodies.

We were following in the footsteps of some of the biggest names in western literature; such as Papa Hemingway himself. The big man was scathing of F Scott Fitzgerald’s lack of drinking prowess, shamelessly shaming him in his famous Lost Generation memoirs A Moveable Feast. Despite writing the classic ‘Gatsby’, for anyone who’s done a bit of digging, Fitzgerald is publicly pilloried for eternity – thanks to the jugular-targeting judgments found in his competitive ‘friend’s’ diary. We can only be glad that the sole epistolary witness to Monday’s over-hydration is a little more discreet.

The Paris landmark Hotel de Ville is the scene of the well known Robert D’Oisneau picture Le Baiser de l’Hotel de Ville. But there wasn’t much love on display today as students and lecturers of the 8th arrondissement started their non-stop walking protest.

La Ronde Infinie des Obstines (literally the “unceasing circling of the stubborn”) takes its inspiration from the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, who protested the disappearance of their children under the Junta. The protesters intend to walk – night and day – in circles before this piece of establishment real estate. Until when, we asked? “Until we get what we want,” said a bearded middle-aged man holding a sign.

What they want is an end to the reforms of the education system initiated by unpopular President Sarkozy. French universities already suffer from large class sizes, and Sarkozy’s attempt to increase teaching hours whilst allegedly cutting back on research is the last straw for some.

Striking and protesting are intrinsic parts of the French psyche, ever since the events of 1789, and Hotel de Ville is emblazoned with the revolution’s enduring motto Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. Napoleon made his name putting down a Parisian revolt and the barricade-loving Communards were one of the reasons why Baron von Haussman (under Napoleon III’s patronage, nephew of the original Bonaparte) built such wide boulevards in the 1850s.

A few days earlier a national strike had been called, though in these times of job insecurity, some did not answer the call. The Palace of Versailles closed, RER double-decker suburban trains were down to 1 in 3 on some lines, but the Metro ran almost normally.

But the nation is unhappy, and in two successive visits Bookpacking has come across demonstrations in the education sector. The passing of the spirit of ‘68 is sometimes lamented, but if the recession continues to worsen, those cobbles – which make such excellent ammunition – could be dug up once again. The day before the strike, the street outside the Sorbonne was lined with CRS (paramilitary riot squad) vehicles and the entrance guarded by police in body armour.

For now, the university staff and pupils of Saint-Denis are happy to make their point peacefully. Like planes stacked over Heathrow they circle, waiting for the right conditions to descend. Will it be a happy landing, or will they run out of fuel first?

(see their website for a video: La Ronde Infinie des Obstines)