The yellow vests

Bonjour,

The French people are not happy. They are protesting about the high fuel taxes. So starting last Saturday, thousands of French citizens calling themselves the ‘Gilets Jaunes‘ (yellow vests) decided to block the roads throughout the whole country and bring traffic to a standstill. (The yellow vests are high-visibility vests that motorists have to carry in their cars, supposedly to put on in cases of emergency.)

This map shows where the blockages were

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So pretty much everywhere. The impact was enormous. Friends who were planning to travel to Paris to catch flights had to drive down the day before and stay overnight. The Saturday markets were almost empty, along with many shops around Cherbourg. Even the major supermarkets were closing at midday because there were no customers. The economic loss would have been staggering. Not to mention the deaths of two people and 100’s more injured as a result of the protests.

We understood that this was to be a one day event – nope. The road blocks have continued in a random fashion so nobody is really sure what is accessible. Lee had to drive to Paris on Monday and spent much of the drive sitting in the car waiting to be allowed through. There are many toll booths on the way and the protesters were only allowing 3 or so cars through every 15 minutes. Occasionally it was possible to take a much longer route to avoid this but most of the time this was not an option.

There is no real end in sight and the government has said it plans to go ahead with another fuel tax increase in January.

So the question everybody is asking – who is being hurt by all this? Retailers are missing out on business, people are not able to get to work so lose their wages for the day etc.

Anyway, enough about that. Here is some light relief. Random photos of animals that we have seen in our travels.

 

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A couple of cats soaking up the sun, seeing if they can use up one of their nine lives
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The cows in France are really pretty. No idea what breed they are, sometimes they are brown but usually black and white. They certainly are well fed compared with those that are trying to survive the Australian drought.
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This little guy (about the size of a guinea pig) was sitting in the middle of a field near Utah Beach. He was so still I thought he was dead but by the time we came back he had walked off. We were lucky to see him because hedgehogs are on the decline and highly protected in France and they say they could be wiped out by 2050.
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No animals in this one, although if you look closely you could probably spot plenty of seagulls. Storm brewing over the Channel and despite the sunshine was really cold.

 

C’est tout pour le moment.

L & M

2 thoughts on “The yellow vests”

  1. Wow …I saw this on the news other day and wondered if it was affecting you. Judging by that map, there’s nobody not affected! How expensive is fuel over there – compared to here? It’s about $1.27, which is the lowest it’s been in ages. I can remember being shocked years ago ..( about 40 yrs ago!!! 😜) ..when it went from 50c to 60 c!! 😱😂
    On a different note …I love You daredevil cats, pretty cows, and that dear little hedgehog. 😊💚 How lucky to have seen one!

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  2. Thanks for your comment – we only just turned this bit on so it’s great hear from you. Yes fuel is not cheap, we pay €1.66 – about $2.75 a litre for diesel. We don’t drive much but it’s tough for those that do. And the richest people who can most afford it live in Paris and don’t rely on cars much anyway. Off to UK in a few hours to see Sheila. Hope you are well xoxo

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