Sunday, Nov. 13, 2005 HEARING NEWS that Paris is under some kind of lockdown (see CNN article below) I geared up, bought a Metro ticket for the night, and went out on an investigative tourism mission. Having never been to Champs Elysees, I started there...taking the train to Place de la Concorde and walking the entire distance from the obelisk to the Arc de Triomphe, to survey the forces defending the city from inside. For this weekend, all public gatherings are banned in France. I kind of doubt that involves canceling plays and movies. So it must pertain to certain kinds of public gatherings by certain kinds of people in certain kinds of places, but of course since France is socialist, it applies to everyone everywhere even though it does not. From my copwatching activies I can report that there were indeed more than usual for a Saturday night. But it was not the typical French scene of a police-to-ordinary citizen ratio that rivals Smith College’s faculty-student ratio (where everyone has their own private riot officer to read the Shakespeare sonnets into his or her ear), though I realize that quite a few guys have been sent out to the front lines north of the city. Maybe along the length of the entire boulevard, about two miles, I saw 100 of them. Probably far fewer. There was definitely some kind of strategic planning involved in the arrangement, but in truth it would not have been enough to stop even a modest riot. Not that anyone wanted to go wiggy; Champs Elysees is basically like an airport runway with department stores all along either side and a big monument on either end. There did appear, as well, to be more than usual official movement around the city tonight, although as I mentioned, the French police policy can be summed up in one word, MORE. I was reading some out-takes to the Jerry Garcia biography a few months ago, posted to the author’s web page, and read the story of a little Grateful Dead show in Paris in the 70s where they put out about 400 riot police on duty for a small theatre full of stoned hippies roaming Europe on $5 and a ticket a day. The thing is this: not rioting is always voluntary on the part of the people, and as we have seen in the northern burbs, no matter how much power you bring to bear on a situation, people still do what they want. My most exciting anti-establishment moment for the evening was snapping a photo in McDonald’s. I will admit to going in for coffee and fries just to see what was going on in there. Taking pictures is strictly prohibited in McDonald’s, at least in France. And they hire goons to enforce the rule. However, despite this I succeeded in taking one photo (not a masterpiece, but I plan to sell it to Wendy’s) and then strolling past the guy pretending not to see him or notice that he was a security guard. People are not generally confrontational in Paris. Every now and then when I have to revert to being a New Yorker and get in someone’s face, they act like they’ve never seen anything like it in their entire lives; that’s the look in their eyes, like everything they once thought of as reality is melting away. (When might I do this? Fair warning — don’t ride your motorcycle on the sidewalk anywhere near me.) The most interesting photo of the night — the Eiffel Tower, through the glass ceiling of a sightseeing boat — should be posted pretty soon. I have some other witty things to report, but it’s way late and I just felt like saying that if there’s a lockdown here, it’s pretty mellow, but then, on the other hand, I am very concerned about Nicolas Sarkozy (mentioned in this week’s Astrology Secrets Revealed). And on that note — my ‘fixed stars’ response in the new ASR is totally screwed up and I’ve asked for it to be pulled till the next edition, when I can fix it. Fiesta (above, or click “prior covers”) says hello. She’s actually about a six month old kitten, tied for cutest critter in the cosmos. It’s a very large tie. Now for CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/12/france.rioting.ap/index.html