Labor Day Demonstration

In France the first of May is Labor day (la journée du travail) and traditionally the day of Le Muguet, as I already showed several times here, but it's also the day unions demonstrate in the streets. One of the demonstrations passed right be my place so I did not have to go very far to take this photo! The big sensitive topic at the moment is La retraite (retirement). The Government can no longer pay! So they are trying to either postpone the age of retirement (which is currently 60) or lower the pensions, or increase the contributions (the French pension system is very largely a "pay-as-you-go" system where the younger generations pay for for the older ones - read this if you're interested to know more), or anything that could allow to make ends meet!

European Elections

It's election times again... In one week (on June 7, precisely in France) the 375 million voters (out of a total population of 500+ million) will elect the 736 members of the European parliament. Unfortunately (well, in my opinion!) the concept of a big European nation is still too new (the first European elections took place in 1979) to mean anything to the people and only few of these 375 million voters will make the journey to the poll booths on Sunday. Unless, unless... they fall for this party who claims they found the best way to avoid layoffs: prohibit them!

Violent anti-Israel demonstration in Paris

Sorry I'm late posting, but I'm just back from Le Boulevard Haussmann, where I took amazing photos, after an anti Israel demonstration. From what the Agence France Presse reports, between 20 000 and 25 000 people protested the Israeli incursion in Gaza, but towards the end, a group of demonstrators started acting violently; they flipped about 13 cars upside down, burnt 3 others and crashed a few shop windows. Here are some additional photos: first a little Animoto, second, the actual photos.

Obama bucks the status quo

As you may or may not be aware, Barack Obama is winning over hearts and minds in Europe. I'm sure you'll have something to say about that, but Iwanted to mostly share this interesting piece of graffiti I found along the Seine at the Port autonome de Paris (11th arrondissement). I recently heard an American comedian (John Stewart) mock the implication by others that a black man on the U.S. currency would be quite difficult for the public to handle. His reply, "Why? Because he's green?" Anyway, here's an interesting link about the subject that you might like.

Inside the voting booth

The quality of this photo is not very good nor does it show much of Paris, but I found it funny to take a photo inside the voting booth! I took it today (today was the first round of the elections for the mayor of Paris) just before I slipped my ballot paper into the envelope. In order to vote, in France, you must be registered on a voting list (generally the one where you live) and have your ID ready; that's all. Who won the election? Well, we have to wait for the second round to be over (next Sunday) to know for sure sure, but there is no suspense: like I already told you, it'll be this man!

Paris mayor to be reelected

I realized recently that I never showed you the mayor of Paris. Not that you really care, but since we have elections coming up (March 9 and 16) I thought it was a good time ;) His name is Bertrand Delanoë, he belongs to the socialist party, he was born in 1950 and, according to polls, there is no doubt he's going to be reelected. Parisians appreciate what he's done for the city (the new tramway, Nuit blanche, Paris Plage, Velib, car chasing... to mention his most visible actions) and forgave him for failing to get the Olympics! Have a look at his promotional video, it's pretty well made. Did I mention he also survived an assassination attempt?

Paris Center of the world!

New elections are coming up..."Les Municipales" (local elections). Yes, we are going to renew our mayor in March. Well, when I say renew, in fact we are going to "revote" for Bertrand Delanoë, the present mayor as polls show there is very very little doubt on the outcome of these elections ;) Unless, unless... some outsider confuses the issue. I let you find out yourself ;)

More towers in Paris?

Should there be more towers in Paris? If you look at this photo - that I took in the 13th arrondissement - I bet you'll probably answer "no way"! And though providing Paris is one of the smallest cities in the world (105 km² - 40 sq. miles*) and that the price of housing is way too high for a lot of people, our mayor is considering building new towers for housing. A very difficult decision to make, providing that according to polls, Parisians clearly don't want new ones... If you want to have a look at the projects, check the video here. (*) As a comparison, the area of London is 1 579 Km2 (610 sq. miles) and Berlin 891,75 km2 (344 sq. miles).

Sarkozy, day one

As of today we officially have a new president. This morning, he did what all new Presidents do: go to his new office (the Elysée Palace), walk a few steps on a red carpet, shake the hand of the former President (Chirac) and make a speech. He then jumped into a big car and went up the Champs Elysees, where I took this photo. Needless to say that, due to security measures, it was not an easy task... Tonight, quite sadly, I also eye witnessed the work of looters, probably anti-Sarkozy protesters.

Chirac's farewell party

Within the next 24 hours (precisely Sunday at 8 pm French time) France will have a new President. I have no idea who this might be but one thing I know for sure is that Chirac will soon leave the Elysee (the Presidential residence) - precisely on May 16. A French television channel (Canal Plus) grabbed this occasion to run a very funny ad campaign using the expression "Pot de départ" which is what most employees do when they leave a company: invite they colleagues and share some peanuts and a glass a wine while expecting for gifts in return!

Who should lead France?

I'm surprised to see how much the foreign media has been dealing with the French elections this year (hence this poster of The Economist); usually, they are not that interested. Maybe because Chirac became famous after the Iraqi crisis? Or is it because nobody knows what the outcome of the elections will be? Or is it because the French said "no" to the European constitution referendum? Anyway, until you can see for yourself on France24 (around 6 pm GMT on Sunday), here are some useful links (in French) : a funny mix of all the candidates and even more fascinating, a sneak preview of who the winner might be... You might also want to "vote" for fun (see the poll on the left).

French elections in 3 days...

The French Primary will take place on Sunday and according to the polls, 40% of the voters still don't know who they are going to vote for. That is why each camp still tries to influence people with last minute actions. Hence, this anti Sarkozy demonstration that I photographed at the Place de la Bastille. They make fun of him by calling him Karcher Man, because he once said "I'm going to clean up the suburbs with a Kärcher (a high-pressure cleaning system)".

Election times

The election campaign has officially started... It means that each of the 12 candidates has the right to be exposed on public billboards (like this one) and to appear on public television and radio (for the exact same amount of time, needless to say...) They are not allowed to spend more that 15,4 million euros for the primaries and 20,6 million € for the actual elections and all their expenses will be refunded by the government provided they get a minimum of 5% of the votes. As you see, even at election times we stick to the "Egalité" principle as much as we can...