Postcards from Paris – Republic Square

/ Bulldog Travels

While I was in Paris protesters began by peacefully protesting labor law changes in Republic Square.  I walked by the square when it looked like this and had to leave because there was an air of violence.  I don’t know how to explain it other than my spidy sense was telling me to get out of there.  So, we left and went on to doing beautifully Parisian things.  That night, protests erupted in to violence, which led to looting, cars burning, smoke bombs, injuries, and police forcing people to leave.  Thankfully, I was not party to or witness of any of this.  (You’re welcome Mom.)  However, the city was tense for a few days especially considering the already tense terrorism related concerns.  Things were fine for the rest of our trip with relatively few sightings of military or police until the day I left, Labor Day.  I read in the news when I got home that further protests became violent that evening.  I was very sorry to hear this and hope things are coming to a peaceful resolution since my leaving.

Before I left many people asked me if I felt comfortable flying to Paris in light of the bombings there and in Brussels.  I did feel comfortable.  I never would have expected internal rioting while I was there.  But, stranger things have happened when I traveled.

Have you ever been in the wrong place at the wrong time when you traveled? (I was just listening to an interview of some South American kids visiting Orlando during the nightclub shootings and can only imagine travelors in Dallas recently…)

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23 thoughts on “Postcards from Paris – Republic Square”

    • Good to hear! It seems times are strange at the moment in several areas of the world. I recall starting to plan a trip to Egypt twice just before things got strange over there. And another trip to Morocco years ago right before a travel advisory against it…Let’s hope things settle down soon. (In fact, I heard that one of the Carribean island countries filed a travel advisory against the US just today because of the increased violence in our country. Sad times!)

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  3. We were scheduled to fly to Brussels the day after the bombing, which was really unnerving. Our flights were cancelled and we were able to reroute our trip. Fortunately I’ve never encountered any violence or protests in my travels.

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    • Scary enough to encounter that…I’ve written about it before but I was in Europe for 9/11. It was an interesting time to travel. I was scheduled to leave I believe the next day or day after. Airports were a wreck… Sad times.

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  4. You have to listen to that inner voice. Glad you were safe and enjoyed the rest of your time there. We were witness to a couple of protests in Spain and Thailand, but never felt threatened by the protestors. The crowd was very well controlled.

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  5. Haven’t gone to Republique yet though I plan to. There is a definite strange atmosphere in some places, like Saint-Michel, notre dame. Not enough police around despite the government claims. I plan to go to the bataclan. Sort of pay my respects. We’ll see. And going to London on wednesday for just a few days. Right now i’m catching up with old mails and posts and comments. I need to figure out a way to move my pictures to dropbox on my iphone so i can post something using the ipad… Take care Jenny. And tnahk you for your Paris photos. Really nice. 😊👍

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