Another sunny day in Paris
Just another sunny, beautiful day in Paris. The reality of course is that sunny days in Paris, while not unknown, are not the norm. Similarly, protests and rally's can be found with equal if not greater frequency. The French are not known for sitting quietly and letting life happen. They exercise their free speech out in the open. On this particular day while looking for a particular gallery with my family I saw a LOT of police activity. Being the curious type I left the family in the gallery line and followed the police and found a rally setting up. It was apparently to protest police brutality. Police in riot gear everywhere. Shields, pepper spray, tear gas launchers, batons and of course automatic weapons. I felt like i was home except that I couldn't understand exactly what was being chanted and I couldn't participate in any discussions (my french is very sub par for now). Democracy is messy but one of it's advantages over autocracies is that it gives you a better understanding of what your population is thinking and feeling. If you were going to invade your neighboring country you'd be better off knowing if your military and population were actually on your side or just doing it because they are scared of their leader. A healthy democracy provides for that. It's a feature and not a problem.
While the rally was getting ready to go this young skater/artist decided to use the time decorate her board. I couldn't help but notice the strange juxtaposition of her casually marking up her deck while a wall of cops prepared for violence (that didn't occur). Having a camera and being curious can be rewarding. It has led me into places and conversations I certainly would otherwise have missed. Vive la France! Vive la démocratie!
