The French are so calm.

[Workingman]

The price of diesel, for example, has risen 23% in the past 12 months, so they are protesting, surprise, surprise.

Apparently there were 125,000 protests across France blocking roads, roundabouts and toll booths. One person died in an accident and 38 people have been arrested. It is all very well behaved.

Imagine what we would do if fuel prices went up 23%,

The spin is that it is for the environment, but as someone who is concerned about that even I do not believe it.

[victor]

And Macron says it will go up AGAIN in January

[Suff]

The price rise has been crippling. I've been buying in France and the UK. I have switched from filling in France before coming to the UK to filling in the UK before crossing over to France. It may be 23% overall, but where we are it has risen a bit more than that. Whilst, generally, diesel was €1.19 12 months ago, locally it was around €1.14 and it is now close to €1.50.

The petrol differentiation is even worse with the UK. French diesel has always been cheaper than UK diesel and even more so since the UK decided to make diesel more expensive than petrol with higher taxes. Petrol at home in France is heading for €1.6.

If Macron thinks he can get to €2 per litre in the next 24 months, without riots, he needs to think again. French wages are generally lower than the UK and the households generally have less disposable cash. Granted they need to commute less as they tend to live closer to work, but, still, they do commute and their wage structure can't take in this kind of impact.

After the last sudden rises our local filling station finally lifted the limit on fuel from a card machine from €60 to €99. But, with an 80l tank, I'm not getting much over 65l before it stops. I'm going to drive this weekend coming, but the price is becoming prohibitive even at extremely high flight and train prices. Especially with escalating toll prices on the Autoroute.

[Suff]

Well I will be experiencing that calm in the next few hours. I'm 8 hours into my journey home. I'm at Orleans services and about to head south off the A10. Coming this way I can slip into town by the back roads and avoid the blockades in the town.

[Workingman]

Good luck with the back roads, never an easy journey.

I have to grudgingly admire the French tactics. Mass marches with hundreds of thousands of people are impressive but hardly ever effective. All they do is gridlock a location for a limited amount of time. Watching events on the news and it only takes a few tens of people to gridlock a major crossroads, Autoroute entry and exit booths, bridges, bypasses.

The numbers who attend a major march splitting their action across a country can bring that country to its knees rather than one city.

[Suff]

Good luck with the back roads, never an easy journey.

I have to grudgingly admire the French tactics. Mass marches with hundreds of thousands of people are impressive but hardly ever effective. All they do is gridlock a location for a limited amount of time. Watching events on the news and it only takes a few tens of people to gridlock a major crossroads, Autoroute entry and exit booths, bridges, bypasses.

The numbers who attend a major march splitting their action across a country can bring that country to its knees rather than one city.

Well I missed it all as they were cozily tucked up in their beds. My town has been on lock down all day for a week. We'll see how this goes when I go back to Calais today. I'll be travelling during the day and not the night so may get caught up in it. Yesterday morning they came out at around 10:15 and shut the town down.

[cromwell]

Good luck Suff. Even the BBC are shp
owing this now. The trouble in Paris was shown last night, all the fires, the tear gas and the riot police. It looked nasty.
Is it about more than just the diesel price rise? One paper over here has suggested it's general dissatisfaction with the government.

[Suff]

Is it about more than just the diesel price rise? One paper over here has suggested it's general dissatisfaction with the government.

Cromwell, it is about the fact that the Macron government is about as much in tune with the people as Marie Antionette. Fuel may be the trigger but the tensions have been growing.

As I said to my French boss. "This is what you get for voting against Le Pen and not FOR someone else". So long as the French keep on doing that, there will be real dissatisfaction and Le Pen will gain votes over it.

[cromwell]

I thought it might be. Over here Macron was portrayed as a bright young thing swept to power on a wave of popular enthusiasm, but the turnout in the French GE was the lowest for years.
He seems to have been chosen as the least worst candidate; never really popular and now exceedingly unpopular!

I suppose it's what can happen when people vote against something rather than for something.

[Suff]

Well I came up to Calais by Rouen and got caught at the roundabout into the city. It only stopped me for about 3 minutes but, then again, it was after midnight. Seemed to be a lot of teenagers there, many more than the older people.

So I'm in Calais without any further incident apart from a car that stinks of burning pallets.

Of interest, my car has a Gilet Jaune sitting on the dash. I noticed this when I was home, at least 40% of the cars I saw had one on the dash. I haven't seen anything about this in the UK news, but it seems that people are showing their solidarity with the cause by putting their yellow vest on the dash.

Noticing this I decided it was probably a good plan to put one on my dash. It reduces hassle, immediately identifies you as an unusual Brit and I do sympathise with them.

Hopefully I can catch an hour or two of sleep before I have to go to work.