Weisberg

If you watched CNN or Fox News like I did a couple of evenings ago, you may well have been impressed at the student demonstrations in France.

Both Tv channels had us sold on the concept Paris was getting mobbed by the angry multitude. Photos of Mad Max-like police trucks hosing thousands of protesters. Scenes of enormous gatherings around Bastille square. Interviews of malcontent students. Some pyrotechnics to boot!

Golly!

Even though I usually travel to Paris, I live in Florida. So I had to wait till the following day before I could get in touch with relatives and friends in Paris. I got Vince first. Vince is constantly a reliable supply, he's got the regional pulse. When I need to get the lowdown on all-factors-Paris, I get it from him first.

"Hi Vince, it really is Phil. Gee, how is it nowadays? Have you lived by way of the night?

"Hi man, what are you speaking about?

"Effectively, I imply, the demonstrations and all. The mayhem.

this month

"Oh yeah, so what about them?

"Nicely, I was on CNN yesterday, and they had been showing all this mess with the police, and students, and vehicles burning!

"And?

"Come on, man, you can not inform me nothing is taking place there!

"Nicely, there was a demonstration, for positive. Students in the streets. But this was yesterday....

"You imply, it is over?

"Confident, buddy. Guys did not like what the government handed over, guys got in the street, guys vented their anger, guys go residence and watch Television, finish of story.

"Oh. But about the automobiles torched? I imply, we saw it on Television!

"To hell with Television! You see a couple of cars burning, and you feel it really is the war?

OK, that was Vince's input. Type of reassuring.

Let's ring household. I wanted to speak to Lolo, my brother in law. Lolo was an army firefighter for 15 years, he's cool-calm-collected, and he's utilised to assessing disasters with a cold eye.

"Lolo? Hi, it is Phil.

"Hi bro, whassup?

"Hey, I just wanted to hear it from you, you know, about the demonstrations, and the mess in Paris.

"Yeah, that was sporty.

"You imply, they wreaked havoc in the place?

"No, I mean it was sporty to get to perform on my scooter. I mean, some of the streets near the Bastille Square were jam-packed.

"But what about the protests? I mean, they showed us the stuff on Television it looked like mayhem with the cops and their trucks!

"That was in the direction of the evening, not during the day. I was not far from the demonstrations when they had been full on. The students positive had been a loud crowd, but the hosing only began in the evening, and only lasted a couple hours.

"What about the cars burned?

"There had been a couple of. Much less than in November, in the course of the occasions in the suburbs.

"Not many then. And how is it now?

"Quiet. Everybody's house, like nothing occurred.

"Do you mean the demonstrations are over?

"Confident. I rode in Paris today, and it was enterprise as usual.

"Is it safe for Americans to come? You know I have this site, Paris-Eiffel-Tower-News.com, and I give travel guidance to folks. Is it risk-free for them, or must I just tell my guests to postpone their travel plans to Paris?

"It is just as quiet these days as it was just before the demonstrations. Come see oneself if you never believe me."

Oh I certain believed Lolo, he having served 15 years as a firefighter in the army, and saved many lives. He used to serve in Paris as well, so he knows the spot like the back of his hand.

But I figured: I'm not gonna danger sending the guests of my web site to Destination Hell. I want proof. Solid proof that it really is all more than, and there is absolutely nothing undesirable taking place now in Paris.

So I called Serge and Tony, two pals who are in the video company.

"Guys, could you do me a favor, and shoot a brief video for my visitors, with the time and date on it? I wanna see Paris as it is today.

Serge and Tony are extremely cool guys, and they certain obliged.

This is the video they sent me: was shot in Paris, among 1:00 and two:00 PM on April three, 2006, in numerous effectively-identified locations: below the Eiffel Tower, on the Alma Bridge, on the Champs Elysees Avenue, on Place de la Concorde, at St Germain des Pres, on St Michel Blvd, close to the Cluny museum, at the Notre Dame Cathedral, on the Cite island, close to the Louvre and Orsay museums, close to the Opera property, and ultimately, proper in the department retailer neighborhood.

What it shows is precisely how Paris is at this time. Enterprise as usual.

So how come we have noticed such a mess on Tv, and there appears to be no trace of it today?

For one particular factor, student protests seldom final. They are place with each other speedily, and dissolve even quicker. What we saw on CNN and other news channels was a live-quickly-die-quickly occurrence.

What's much more, Television and the news media seldom report quiet endings. 'News' is drama, war, atrocities, and the like. Uneventful endings in no way make the news.

The student protests of March 28 had been filmed until everybody just went back property right after sunset. Then they became much much less newsworthy. Or so believe the massive honchos at CNN, Fox News, and the like. Never forget people, these guys assume for y'all, the rabble. So shut up and watch.

Thirdly, the French are Mediterranean in character. An argument breaks, tempers flare quickly, bird names are exchanged, and abruptly it is all drama.... Then things resume their standard course, everybody shares a glass of wine, and the argument is soon forgotten.

The French government tried to pass a law which students and unions take into account as a danger to job security. When the latter felt this law was forced into their gullets with no negotiations, their temper flared, and in no time they had been down in the street. But it ended just as speedily as it all began. A flash in the pan. Inside a day, it was over.

There is only one particular regrettable truth in this: heavy-handed, scandal-pleased, war-loving news reporting provides us all a false impression that France is "a harmful location to travel to these days."

Yet, had Television cameras continued rolling and spent just as much time displaying Parisians had returned to their peaceful lives, such impression would have been swiftly dispelled for what it actually is: one hundred% false.

And so it is the privilege of regular Joes like me and other honest-to-God travelers to report the content ending: every thing is fine and dandy in Paris, folks. Reside your lives as you program them, and if you wish to travel to France, just don't bother also much with the news.

PS-- Paris is a big city. Demonstrations are mainly channeled along particular boulevards: Nation-to-Bastille, Nation-to-Italie, Bastille-to-Republique, and Bastille-to-Chatelet. Look them up on a map. Appear at all the space around these spots. Effectively, that's your own playground in case new demonstrations occur when you are in Paris. A truth the news media conveniently omit to tell you. It wouldn't sell.

PPS-- To see the brief film, click right here: