I’m back in UK (again) at the moment, driving this time and was planning on coming home tomorrow. Dieppe, Rouen, Chartres, towards Limoges. I’ll make sure I’ve enough fuel before I set off, but is there anyway of knowing where these problems are going to be?
This is just going to piss off the general population , they need to target government if it is to have the slightest chance of being successful IMHO.
As more than one person has commented in the Press… who is going to pay for all this damage… “us” of course… 
Why are they allowed to do this damage is the real question?
Jane… as I understand things… everyone has the right to have a “manifestation”
although I believe it has to be notified in advance to the authorities…
However, no-one has the right to do damage…( other than to their own property , of course)…
In my opinion, what we are seeing is the result of extremists/trouble-makers (call them what you will)… who have jumped on the bandwagon…
It has been the inaction of the police to let things get out of hand that is so difficult to understand.
French folk have the right to “manifest”… (can’t even think of the english word for it)…
Police are simply around to hopefully ensure that there is no violence etc…
Having said that the police cannot be everywhere… and until someone breaks the law… they are on a watching-brief I suspect…
The damage to the peage seems to have been done overnight… but more info should be available soon…
I agree Stella, it happens in the U.K. as well. People jump on the bandwagon when they have no real interest in what is being protested about
Google tells me it is demonstrate…
I have nothing against demonstrating, but it has to be correctly targeted to serve a useful purpose - this is just chaos for the sake of chaos and I don’t approve of it.
It’s not for the sake of chaos Véro, the idea is to show te government that their are problems in society that need to be addressed. Many people of all classes are struggling and are fed up with being ripped off when they see no tangible improvement in the spending power or their lives. The peopl on the frontline are ordinary people like us who feel the need to be heard.
The violence at the péage a few days back was the work of extremists bussed in to cause chaos.
Well I am an ordinary person doing a job and they are making my getting to work extremely difficult, I appreciate that there are problems in society but stopping me going to lycée isn’t going to cure them, demonstrating around the préfecture might get them more support, they have lost mine completely and most of my colleagues (all good lefties, btw) have also lost sympathy with the GJs and think their movement has been infiltrated by extremist vandals. So make of that what you will…
It’s not a matter of left or right, the GJs are from all walks of life irrespective of their political leanings.
Generally the unions would support this sort of movement though, mine usually does and this time it doesn’t. It isn’t the one mentioned above.
Depends on the union, for example the FO does and the CFTD doesn’t.
I have a strong suspicion that the local GJ group in Issoire has been infiltrated with either “anarchists”, or itinerant and unlinked demonstrators - the clue here was a clapped out hippie van parked by the side of the road where they were demonstrating with a registration plate from the Pyrenees, and yellow jackets that had “I NO PASARAN” written on the back. Now, I’m no expert in any form of Spanish, but it seems to me rather strange that people who were potentially involved in the Catalonian demonstrations should now be demonstrating at a roundabout in a little provincial auvergnat town 400 km away from where their vehicle is registered…
Well, bless my cotton socks, there is a politically motivated, extreme left-wing movement called “No Pasaran” in France:
http://nopasaran.samizdat.net/
I had to go on a 200km detour to avoid the blockades around St Briuec (22) and Caen. I supported them on day one but no longer given the mob mentality behaviour being mainifested. Brittany needs better public transport but being so rural cars will always be needed to get to the train or bus stop. Car sharing seems quite popular, so maybe those that participate should get an incentive to continue.
I don’t know if it’s because we are in a fairly well-heeled area but there is virtually zero support here.
None of my 45 IT students (aged 18 - 28) have shown any interest whatsoever in joining in and out of my adult learners, the sentiment is prett similar.
I saw one lady this morning, 40 something single mum and a very gentle soul who tried to return from her mother’s 80th birthday in the Charente on Sunday.
She did 20 k before being stopped by the protesters who refused to let her pass because she was not displaying a yellow jacket in the front of her car. When she argued that this was totally unfair as they had let other people through, they got really agressive and she was forced to turn round and return a day later. The kids missed school and she had an 8 hour detour.
Needless to say, she now has zero sympathy for the cause.