I just got back from Paris for some design consulting. I can't say much about that, but I'll tell you mostly about two other things there: a political protest march and Disneyland Paris.

The Protest March

I was walking around the streets of Paris with a friend and I saw one street blocked off for seemingly no reason. A single policewoman stood guard. I didn't think much of it until a bit later when we encountered some sort of parade. It seemed to be a protest by the young socialist party. At the front and rear of this small march were a few police cars. There were also three policemen (including one old man with gray hair) in full riot gear. The protesters had various signs and a float (you know, like in a parade) and they all seemed pretty happy. Music was playing. One sign mentioned worker's rights while another was rainbow colored (gay rights, it seemed). It was a fun novelty to see the little event. I wondered how the police were so ready for it though. Did the protesters apply for some kind of permit to march? And if they were turned down, wouldn't they march anyway? I don't really know how it works.

Then I looked at other various shops and landmarks, and accidentally encountered the parade a couple more times. Paris is designed around a big circle, so the city blocks are triangular (or trapezoidal) rather than rectangular, so that can kind of throw you off. It was no big deal though, there were plenty of other ways to go so it's not like my path was really blocked. (Not like the dreaded Mainstreet Electrical Parade in (USA) DisneyLand. That thing will block you like nothing else.)

I encountered more and more police. Police vehicles along the sides of streets. Vehicles across an entire intersection, blocking all of it. It looked like some kind of command center. There were 20 or 30 policemen with full riot gear here (wearing armor and padding). It seemed like an excessive number, but I guess they wanted to be prepared. That said, there were also more and more protesters. And then more and more police. Then I had encountered over 100 police. It was at this point that I realized how many policemen were really on the streets of Paris: ALL OF THEM. I imagined some sort of Batman villain who staged all this in order to commit crimes in another part of the city.

At this point, I needed to cross the bridge over the Seine river, but there was no way there other than through all the protesters. I had little choice but to be swept up with them. There were so many of them...more and more and more of them. All of Paris seemed consumed by them at this point.

The vibe was not like you might imagine a "protest" to be. I didn't see any anger from anyone. Loud pop music blared, people cheered and marched while holding their signs, floats rolled by, there was even a marching band in there somewhere. They weren't so much protesting as *celebrating*.

By now, I realized what they were marching for.