In case you didn’t already know, the French are fervent protesters. They live to argue with friends, argue at dinner parties with people they’ve only just met, argue with government workers… well argue with almost anyone, really.
They learn from a very young age that playing devil’s advocate is fun and protesting is merely an expression of their god given rights as citizens of the Republic. And while most are non-violent manifestations, as they call them, there have been several heavily mediatized incidences of civil unrest, the most notable of which dates back to 2005 when riots near housing projects in an underprivileged suburb involved burning cars and buildings and attacks on police. This of course led the American media to paint a picture of Paris as a dangerous place rife with unruly and destructive people.
What a French friend of mine recalls most about the incident is that the US made fools of themselves with their maps placing Toulouse in Spain and a preposterous phone call she received from a friend abroad asking her if she was safe from the "warzone". No, the isolated incidences of violent riots (or in some cases, protests gone awry) should not be confused with the ever-so-frequent Air France, public transportation, post office, university and daycare protests and/or strikes. The grain farmer protest of this Tuesday can now be added to the list.
In the latest example of the crisis facing French agriculture, over 1,000 French grain farmers drove their tractors into Paris, taking over the streets in the northeast part of the city in protest of the skyrocketing costs and falling price of grain. Blaming the government and the EU for rising social charges, stifling environmental regulations and paperwork, they even solicited the help of Madame First Lady with slogans attached to their vehicles reading “Carla, help us, we can’t live on love and water!” I’m going to go ahead and bet it would take a lot more than a catchy slogan to get Bruni on board with the plight of les paysans.
All joking aside, the farmer’s protest isn’t to be taken lightly. The French Agriculture Minister, Bruno le Maire, attested to the gravity of their situation and cautioned that “thousands of farms could be lost” unless properly addressed.
Admittedly, I am in no position to judge the validity or frivolousness of the majority of the strikes and protests that occur in Paris. I was in the States for the riots of 2005, I have not (yet) been affected by one of the Air France strikes, and I managed to avoid the RER A, Europe’s busiest suburban train line with over 1,200,000 passengers a day, during their month-long strike that left thousands repeatedly late for work and even more ornery than usual.
However, with the exception of the tractor revolt, I have come to the conclusion that, for the French, it’s not just about deft arguing and a love for opposing the government but about a veritable national sport of inconveniencing others. I can come up with no other explanation for the egregious amounts of red tape and paperwork.
All that said, I still admire the courage of the French to stand up and refuse to be walked on and abused by others. In the case of the disillusioned grain farmer, President Sarkozy better start listening to their complaints before this harmless yet entertaining protest escalates into more than just a big traffic jam.
For video, check out the English report on France 24.
Image via Parisien Salon's Twitpic Account.
Lindsey is the creator of Lost In Cheeseland. She is a Paris transplant from Philadelphia, married to a Frenchman and on a permanent quest to understand the idiosyncrasies of the French. Check out her blog for more musings about food, life, love and struggles in Paris.