| Have you gotten scared by the media reporting on the | | | | "It's just as quiet today as it was before the |
| recent events in Paris? Phil almost did, but he knows | | | | demonstrations. Come see yourself if you don't believe |
| better than just listening to the hubbub. Check with him | | | | me." |
| what's the real story on these events, and if they really | | | | Oh I sure believed Lolo, he having served 15 years as |
| should hinder you from traveling to Paris. | | | | a firefighter in the army, and saved several lives. He |
| If you watched CNN or Fox News like I did a few | | | | used to serve in Paris too, so he knows the place like |
| evenings ago, you might have been impressed at the | | | | the back of his hand. |
| student demonstrations in France. | | | | But I figured: I'm not gonna risk sending the visitors of |
| Both TV channels had us sold on the idea Paris was | | | | my website to Destination Hell. I want proof. Solid proof |
| being mobbed by the angry multitude. Pictures of Mad | | | | that it's all over, and there's nothing bad happening now |
| Max-like police trucks hosing thousands of protesters. | | | | in Paris. |
| Scenes of massive gatherings around Bastille square. | | | | So I called Serge and Tony, two friends who are in the |
| Interviews of malcontent students. Some pyrotechnics | | | | video business. |
| to boot! | | | | "Guys, could you do me a favor, and shoot a short |
| Golly! | | | | video for my visitors, with the time and date on it? I |
| Though I often travel to Paris, I live in Florida. So I had | | | | wanna see Paris as it is today. |
| to wait until the following day before I could call | | | | Serge and Tony are very cool guys, and they sure |
| relatives and friends in Paris. I got Vince first. Vince is | | | | obliged. |
| always a reliable source, he's got the local pulse. When | | | | This is the video they sent me: Paris video |
| I need to get the lowdown on all-things-Paris, I get it | | | | It was shot in Paris, between 1:00 and 2:00 PM on April |
| from him first. | | | | 3, 2006, in various well-known places: under the Eiffel |
| "Hi Vince, it's Phil. Gee, how is it today? Have you lived | | | | Tower, on the Alma Bridge, on the Champs Elysees |
| through the night? | | | | Avenue, on Place de la Concorde, at St Germain des |
| "Hi man, what are you talking about? | | | | Pres, on St Michel Blvd, near the Cluny museum, at the |
| "Well, I mean, the demonstrations and all. The mayhem. | | | | Notre Dame Cathedral, on the Cite island, near the |
| "Oh yeah, so what about them? | | | | Louvre and Orsay museums, near the Opera house, |
| "Well, I was on CNN yesterday, and they were | | | | and finally, right in the department store neighborhood. |
| showing all this mess with the police, and students, and | | | | What it shows is exactly how Paris is at this time. |
| cars burning! | | | | Business as usual. |
| "And? | | | | So how come we have seen such a mess on TV, |
| "Come on, man, you can't tell me nothing is happening | | | | and there seems to be no trace of it today? |
| there! | | | | For one thing, student protests rarely last. They are put |
| "Well, there was a demonstration, for sure. Students in | | | | together quickly, and dissolve even quicker. What we |
| the streets. But this was yesterday.... | | | | saw on CNN and other news channels was a |
| "You mean, it's over? | | | | live-fast-die-fast occurrence. |
| "Sure, buddy. Guys didn't like what the government | | | | What's more, TV and the news media rarely report |
| handed over, guys got in the street, guys vented their | | | | quiet endings. 'News' is drama, war, atrocities, and the |
| anger, guys go home and watch TV, end of story. | | | | like. Uneventful endings never make the news. |
| "Oh. But about the cars torched? I mean, we saw it on | | | | The student protests of March 28 were filmed until |
| TV! | | | | everybody just went back home after sunset. Then |
| "To hell with TV! You see a couple of cars burning, | | | | they became much less newsworthy. Or so think the |
| and you think it's the war? | | | | big honchos at CNN, Fox News, and the like. Don't |
| OK, that was Vince's input. Kind of reassuring. | | | | forget folks, these guys think for y'all, the rabble. So |
| Let's ring family. I wanted to talk to Lolo, my brother in | | | | shut up and watch. |
| law. Lolo was an army firefighter for 15 years, he's | | | | Thirdly, the French are Mediterranean in character. An |
| cool-calm-collected, and he's used to assessing | | | | argument breaks, tempers flare quickly, bird names are |
| disasters with a cold eye. | | | | exchanged, and suddenly it's all drama.... Then things |
| "Lolo? Hi, it's Phil. | | | | resume their regular course, everybody shares a glass |
| "Hi bro, whassup? | | | | of wine, and the argument is soon forgotten. |
| "Hey, I just wanted to hear it from you, you know, | | | | The French government tried to pass a law which |
| about the demonstrations, and the mess in Paris. | | | | students and unions consider as a danger to job |
| "Yeah, that was sporty. | | | | security. When the latter felt this law was forced into |
| "You mean, they wreaked havoc in the place? | | | | their gullets with no negotiations, their temper flared, |
| "No, I mean it was sporty to get to work on my | | | | and in no time they were down in the street. But it |
| scooter. I mean, some of the streets near the Bastille | | | | ended just as quickly as it all started. A flash in the pan. |
| Square were jam-packed. | | | | Within a day, it was over. |
| "But what about the protests? I mean, they showed us | | | | There is only one regrettable fact in this: |
| the stuff on TV; it looked like mayhem with the cops | | | | heavy-handed, scandal-happy, war-loving news |
| and their trucks! | | | | reporting gives us all a false impression that France is |
| "That was towards the evening, not during the day. I | | | | "a dangerous place to travel to these days." |
| was not far from the demonstrations when they were | | | | Yet, had TV cameras continued rolling and spent just |
| full on. The students sure were a loud crowd, but the | | | | as much time showing Parisians had returned to their |
| hosing only started in the evening, and only lasted a | | | | peaceful lives, such impression would have been |
| couple hours. | | | | quickly dispelled for what it really is: 100% false. |
| "What about the cars burned? | | | | And so it is the privilege of regular Joes like me and |
| "There were a few. Less than in November, during the | | | | other honest-to-God travelers to report the happy |
| events in the suburbs. | | | | ending: everything is fine and dandy in Paris, folks. Live |
| "Not many then. And how is it now? | | | | your lives as you plan them, and if you wish to travel |
| "Quiet. Everybody's home, like nothing happened. | | | | to France, just don't bother too much with the news. |
| "Do you mean the demonstrations are over? | | | | PS-- Paris is a big city. Demonstrations are mostly |
| "Sure. I rode in Paris today, and it was business as | | | | channeled along certain boulevards: Nation-to-Bastille, |
| usual. | | | | Nation-to-Italie, Bastille-to-Republique, and |
| "Is it safe for Americans to come? You know I have | | | | Bastille-to-Chatelet. Look them up on a map. Look at all |
| this website, Paris-Eiffel-Tower-News.com, and I give | | | | the space around these spots. Well, that's your own |
| travel advice to people. Is it safe for them, or should I | | | | playground in case new demonstrations occur when |
| just tell my visitors to postpone their travel plans to | | | | you are in Paris. A fact the news media conveniently |
| Paris? | | | | omit to tell you. It wouldn't sell. |