At the town hall
In France it's very important to wish everyone Happy New Year when you see them for the first time in January, and all people in positions of authority present their greetings to various assemblies of eager listeners. The President has presented his greetings to the press and to the army, as well as to other groups, and at the Town Hall M. Juppe was scheduled to present his greetings to the associations of Bordeaux on Thursday evening.
I am secretary of one lot, president of two others, so I decided I should go along.
The town hall was stuffed with eager people, most of them considerably older than me, and the evening began in a festive way with some songs from a Basque male-voice choir. After their presentation M. Juppé took the stage and made his speech, thanking the associations for their contribution to the life of the city.
He also took the opportunity to express his frustration and annoyance with the violence each Saturday afternoon and its cost to the life of the city. It has been reported that 10% of the shops could be forced to close because of lost trade, and that would be principally the small traders, the more interesting and unusual shops, not the large chain stores who have the resilience to weather the storm. He also reported that the repairs each week so far have cost over a million euros.
He comes across as a careful and irenic politician pleading for "jaw jaw" rather than "war war".
The room was so crowded and hot that I did not stay for the customary galette des rois and - usually really nice - wine, fruit juice and cider. I left after M. Juppé's speech but before the end of the evening.
I am secretary of one lot, president of two others, so I decided I should go along.
The town hall was stuffed with eager people, most of them considerably older than me, and the evening began in a festive way with some songs from a Basque male-voice choir. After their presentation M. Juppé took the stage and made his speech, thanking the associations for their contribution to the life of the city.
He also took the opportunity to express his frustration and annoyance with the violence each Saturday afternoon and its cost to the life of the city. It has been reported that 10% of the shops could be forced to close because of lost trade, and that would be principally the small traders, the more interesting and unusual shops, not the large chain stores who have the resilience to weather the storm. He also reported that the repairs each week so far have cost over a million euros.
He comes across as a careful and irenic politician pleading for "jaw jaw" rather than "war war".
The room was so crowded and hot that I did not stay for the customary galette des rois and - usually really nice - wine, fruit juice and cider. I left after M. Juppé's speech but before the end of the evening.
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