Another day, another demonstration

Impatient drivers honking horns, then the distinctive sound of police whistles. What's going on? The windows of our apartment face away from the street so we couldn't see the source of all the noise. I went out to buy our daily baguette from the boulangerie in the Place de la Nation which is a frequent site of demonstrations.

There were a dozen police vans lined up in the street with officers directing traffic diverted by the closure of the circular avenue surrounding the central monument.

"Who is it this time?" I asked in French.

"Les etudiants (the students)" a policeman responded.

The crowd roared and cheered in response to an unseen leader. Waves of students rushed from the sidelines towards the monument where scores of their comrades were perched.

Hundreds of police in full riot gear displayed patience, monitoring the sidelines.
This is how they usually appear.

A little while later, when things had calmed down, I went out again and noticed that the police were a little more relaxed. I approached a small group. "Excuse me please," I said in English, "I am an American from Colorado. May I please take a picture of you?" They seemed totally disarmed. A picture? of us? All eyes turned towards their captain. "Of course!" he responded with a big smile. He then took the camera and motioned me over to stand with the men.

And voila!