Riots

Unfortunately it seems impossible not to write this post.
There is a Lycee in the road that I live and over the last few days they have been 'striking'. They are answering a call from the unions asking them to strike against the pension reforms. I don't want to get political in a blog that is supposed to be about the lighter side of life but the pension reforms and the strikes and manifestations are big news here.

Last week the girls from work went on strike, leaving just 3 of us working and a whole lot of parents resigned to looking for alternative childcare for the day.
When asked by my colleagues why I was not striking, I tried to explain that I have 19 years of pension rights tied up in the UK that I will no be able to access until I'm 67, so even if I stay in France and retire at 60, I will only be able to claim what I have earnt in France, which will not equate to full pension. The whole idea of contributing to your pension plan was also an alien concept. In fact amongst my friends the strikes are only getting the support of the French, as most other nationalities are already having to work beyond 62 before they can retire. It has sparked some interesting debates on facebook and in the bars.

Calling out the students seems to be a desperate effort by the unions who have seen dwindling support for the strikes over the last few months. While most people will only strike on the day called by the unions (in order not to lose too much pay) the students have the luxury of striking as often as they want - though the realization that they are jeopardizing their own education and therefore (in exam obsessed France) the chances of going on to getting a good degree and a job and therefore more pension, seems to be lost on them.
The local students first went on strike last Tuesday, this involved a group of between 70/100 standing outside the school and shouting, trying to intimidate those in the school. Over the days it has gradually got more violent. It started with the bins being kicked down the street, then setting light to them. Then the bottle banks were upturned and rolled down the street. This continues till about 10am each morning, then they all head down to Place Bellecour and set light to more bins there.

Yesterday it turned nasty and the riots began in Lyon. It started with the students outside my apartment turning over cars and setting light to them as well as smashing the windscreens of others. Eventually the riot police arrived, to the obvious relief of the 4 or so Police Municipal and the crowd dispersed to Bellecour, setting light to another car on the way, as well as breaking shop windows and more windscreens. I have found footage of the incidents in my street on Youtube and the students are complaining that the wrong school was named in the news reports??
Today the riot police were waiting for them at 9am so not much happened outside here, but the students at the neighbouring Lycee set light to cars instead. Then the town centre turned into a war zone.

I had hoped that the manifestations of the striking unions - which are normally peaceful, would encourage better behaviour in the students. Unfortunately this was not so and I have looked on with horror at the scenes of devastation from central Lyon, tear gas, riot shields, looting, burning cars. What is happening to this beautiful city in the name of pension reforms?

Students - you have the right to strike but not to vandalise other people's property. Having, literally seen this develop from the very start, I can say that this is not the 'spirit of 68 revisited' as quoted by some of the foreign media. It is sheer bloody minded machoism of teenage youth.

Visitors

When I first moved here all my friends were promising to come out and and see me, however visitors have remained thin on the ground and a rare sighting. Some people have been very honest and expressed a concern about having to speak French all weekend (they won't have to) and others keep promising but never seem to get round to booking tickets. Though a couple of friends have been amazing and regular visitors, bringing with them much needed supplies of teabags, bacon, sausages and marmite.

I think one of the problems maybe that I live in the city - you would think that this would be a perfect excuse for a cheap weekend city break, but I'm not that far south to make it a sunny escape in winter but far enough south to be unbearable in the summer. Also being in the city, I don't have a pool and shady patio for guests to lounge around drinking apero's and pretend they are living the French lifestyle (but I do have a great apartment with fantastic views..)

Having got that little moan out of the way I am pleased to report that after 11 months without so much as a hint of a guest on the horizon, I was positively inundated with visitors. Well, two and a dog that came for a city break while his owner went abroad for work.
The first had been working up in the Alps and came for a couple of days before going home. Unfortunately the Alps are not known for their supply of teabags, bacon or sausages but he was a 'great' visitor and did cooking and washing up duties without prompting or hinting. In fact it was lovely to come home from work and find dinner all ready prepared. Then, no sooner had I put him on a bus to the airport, I was back at the station collecting visitor no 2.
He arrived fresh from Gatwick and had a plentiful supply of pork products and a rather amusing story of being interrogated by the security people at the airport about what was in his luggage. I can see how a packet of sausages could look like a bundle of dynamite sticks in an x-ray machine.

It is fun having visitors, not just catching up on the news and the gossip from home over bacon sandwiches but also a great way to rexplore the city and do things that you don't normally do as a resident. Just as you start getting jaded about where you live and start only seeing the pollution, the traffic and striking transport workers, you can see it through a pair of fresh eyes and see the beauty of the place again. I teased visitor 2 about going to see a wall. He is a builder but even he didn't seem thrilled by the prospect of 'a wall' - till he saw what must be one of the most striking pieces of trompe l'oeil ever. It was also fun just sitting by the river and having a drink in the sun. This was made even better as he was getting texts saying how miserable the weather was in the UK!!

It was sad to see everyone go, though I still had the company of a 6 month old puppy for a few days. I say 6 months old - but he weighs 26 kilos and still thinks he's teeny tiny when tries to sit in your lap! Now even he has gone and I have the place to myself again, awaiting the next visitors (whenever that may be) and getting used to doing my own washing up again.