Sarkozy Cuts In Front
We were driving up the Champs-Elysees toward the Arc d'Triomphe when all of a sudden a group of Paris policemen came running out into the street and stopped all traffic.
A small entourage of cars and motorcycles appeared from our left, cut in front of us, and headed toward the Arc d'Triomphe. Hey! Why is this guy cutting in front of us? Who does he think he is, the President of France?!!!
OMG! It is the President of France!
As it turned out, the newly elected President of France, Nicholas Sarkozy, was making the rounds and visiting various officials around Paris. We saw the entourage again later in the day.
While we thought it was very interesting to see French history in the making, Crystal was predicting doom and gloom with the election of Sarkozy. Though a very nice lady, like most Parisians, she was hard-core left-wing socialist. Paris and the surrounding area is equivalent to our blue states, while the rest of France is equivalent to our red states. Actually, that's not quite true. It's more like dark blue and light blue states. While Paris decries that Sarkozy is a right-winger, he's seems rather middle of the road by American standards.
It's best to avoid political discussions when in a foreign country. Especially if you're counting on a ride back to the train station. So while Crystal was lamenting that EVERYONE thinks Sarkozy is bad for the country, I'm thinking, "Well, 53% seem to disagree". On the plus side, Sarkozy says he likes Americans, so that will be a nice change from Chirac. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I may actually pay attention to French politics for a while.
posted by Alan @ 6/10/2007 08:33:00 PM
2 Common Taters
2 Comments:
Alan, we are so used to this kind of delay. During the previous CM’s regime, traffic would be stopped one hour before she comes by that road. Later, things improved and these days, the delay is just ten minutes. The trick to identify whether a political hotshot is visiting your area-Check the roads. If they have been cleaned and potholes covered, then it means that some hot shot is visiting. Recently, our CM completed 50 years of legislative career and important leaders from Delhi visited Chennai. Traffic was thrown out of gear with people being stuck in buses and cars for as long as three hours. Such is the state of India.
Hi Lavs, I love these insights into daily Indian life.
Post a Comment
<< Home