But the nuclei of activity this week were a little different. On Thursday, the third or fourth strike (la gr�ve) in the last few weeks took place. Demonstrators wore bright orange and carried flags and banners, sporting stickers and patches that bore the acronym CFDT or the phrase “Je lutte des classes.” The labor unions for public transport were the principal participants, but the demonstrations drew at least two million people to protest against a recently passed bill that raises the retirement age from 60 to 62. Most of the people I saw were older, but in the street where the IES center is located, I saw two children carrying signs. Although the demonstrations were peaceful, the atmosphere felt charged. The police closed a lot of roads and metro stations (I almost got stuck in one, because they blocked all the exits).  

Saturday held another, rather different event – the Techno Parade. It was quite possibly one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. The parade consisted of two floats with DJs and huge sound systems, around which thousands of young (and a few not so young) people danced. It started at Place Denfert-Rochereau and began a five-hour long march to the Bastille (appropriately). The parade’s mission is to create an atmosphere where we can all live better together (“mieux vivre ensemble”) through electronic music. Awesome. It was insane – people dressed up, danced to their own crazy rhythms, clapped, and climbed on everything in the path. They danced on top of bus stations, scaled monuments and streetlights, hung out of windows. I’m pretty sure such a parade would never happen in the US, because I can’t imagine any city allowing thousands of techno-loving adolescents to dance through the biggest streets of the city, completely blocking traffic for hours, blasting music, and generally being chaotic (also techno isn’t quite as popular in the States as it is here). In any case, I’m really glad that I got to participate in the parade.

The solidarity of events like strikes and the Techno Parade is what strikes me the most about them. Parisians are known for their fondness of protesting and striking, but the sense of getting together and doing something proactive, or at least highly visible, is so strong here. Of course, it is in many places; in the US and other countries, there are protests and demonstrations too. But I haven’t seen that level of solidarity for a cause very often back home. Maybe we can take a lesson from the French, and get everyone at Penn State together to protest the annual raises in tuition, or the use of factory-farmed eggs (or anything besides a football game).