Riots on the right

I was eating le petit déjeuner in Singleton Siberia at my hotel yesterday (I’ll tell you about that later), when I overheard the guy at the front desk speaking with an American couple who needed to get to Charles De Gaulle airport later in the day. He was giving them the various options, but warned that things were complicated “because of the riots.”

Well, I should hope so.

Turns out that there’ve been protests against the high cost of fuel over the past few Saturdays, always along the Champs-Élysées. And another one was scheduled for yesterday.

As I was preparing to head out to the Musée de l’Armée and handed him my room key, I checked that the riots would be on the Rive Droit, and I’d be okay if I stayed on the Rive Gauche. Yes, he assured me, just along the Champs-Élysées.

Okay, I hared off to the museum, fighting with Google Maps, which insisted I could not use public transportation to get there. It wasn't until I switched to Les Invalides as my destination that GM grudgingly said, well, okay, I could take Ligne 12 to Concorde, then switch to Ligne 8 (the museum is in Les Invalides). I was downcast to hear the announcements at the first station that whole bunch o' stations in the vicinity of Champs-Élysées were closed on account of the expected riots, including Concorde. However, it turns out that Ligne 8 and Ligne 12 have two consecutive touch points, so Madeleine got me the needed transfer.

When I'd logged three hours at the various exhibitions of interest,  thought I’d swing by le Bon Marché, a famous department store, on the rue du Bac on my way back.

Well, color me surprised when I stepped out of the Métro station and heard a ruckus. Here’s what I saw passing by on the boulevard Raspail:

I mean—they weren’t rioting, but they were definitely part of the “yellow vest” protests. (As for the riots: they were real. A few score arrests were made in the course of Saturday.)

Also, I noticed that the gendarmes who guard the intersection of the rue du Bac and the rue de Varenne (which appears to have some government offices) were accessorized with gas masks:

Huh.

Here are some other things I thought worth noting on that trek.

Someone decided the rue du Regard needed a name change:

Here was an interesting shop window display:

It was a shoe store, if you’re asking. (Rue du Bac is trendy.)

And here’s a very bright toaster:

This woman was transporting her Christmas tree…on her (non-motorized) scooter:

And a tale of two bicycles, the first rather sad and the other I just dunno:

Paris, baby; it’s all there.