Your survival Guy and Gal took our morning walk through the Tuileries Gardens in Paris on Saturday. That afternoon, 110,000 protestors were rampaging through certain pockets of the city.
On our walk, we saw some yellow pants/shirts here and there (remnants of the 2019 “gilet jaunes” protest movement). Mid-afternoon, at Café Bonaparte, a woman seated next to us shared an app showing live gathering points throughout the country. It was filled with yellow fist icons indicating confrontation points. Sirens could be heard all afternoon near and far. The police presence was massive.
In Tuileries Garden, certain gates that are normally left open were locked up on our walk in preparation to keep the protesters out of certain areas. This created choke points in the early evening as we made our way in an Uber to dinner, a ride that was basically a couple miles and would normally take 15 or 20 minutes on a busy Saturday night took an hour and a half, all merging into one lane in front of the Louvre.
You could hear the bang of crowd dispersal ordnance detonating. You could see heavy black smoke in the air from car fires and debris burning, along with the burning smell. Driving by one fashion house, the front plate-glass window was smashed in, and across the street diners were seated outside a brasserie having a “nothing to see here” dinner as if it was just another Saturday night.
In our many conversations with locals and acquaintances leading up to Saturday, they warned us about the planned protests. To them, when asked, this is a combination of real frustrations across the country and also frustration that they’re burning their own city and country from within. Leadership is stoking the fire from both sides of the political spectrum, and President Macron is hardly taking a hard stand against the movement. It’s all more than a bit concerning. You can feel a change in the undercurrent of emotions here in Paris.
Action Line: You know I want you to take the trips and spend your money a little foolishly, but after seeing Paris on the ground during this chaos, I cannot recommend travel here at the moment. When you want to talk about Paris, your retirement travel plans, or your investment portfolio, email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com. And click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.
Read more about Your Survival Guy in Paris here.
Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.
