While wandering around alone in Paris with no cell service or sense of direction, I stumbled upon my new friend Damien (pictured above) and thousands of French protestors marching down Le Republique. Just before landing in Paris, the government had announced a renewed state of emergency. I asked Damien why this mattered and he explained to me in impressively broken English that a state of emergency gives more power to police and administrative authorities. He described it as an “increasingly fascist political situation.” Damien’s banner reads “Committees against Le Pen” – Referring to Marine Le Pen, a French politician running for president representing The National Front – an increasingly popular and influential political group in France at the time with far-right learnings.
Later at a pregame with some of Franny’s new French friends, I asked how they felt about “Le Pen” and got quick responses that compared her to Hitler. I also found out that the French strongly oppose discussing politics while drinking – a social grace that should be introduced to the U.S.
While I didn’t make a trip back up the Eiffel Tower or revisit the Mona Lisa at the Lourve, I got a unique taste of Paris that I shared with my brilliant Turkish professor who has been lecturing about the rise of political parties, like the National Front, across Western Europe for the past 2 weeks. I also made a lone visit to the creepy depths of the Catacombs – ossuaries underneath Paris containing the remains of more than 6 million people. Creepy? Yes. Cool? Definitely.
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