The current situation in France seems normal. I mean, it's certainly not normal when people burn cars and rob shops in broad daylight, but in France it's quite normal. They are always dissatisfied with something there, and they are used to expressing their dissatisfaction with rather radical methods. The difference between the current outbreak of protest and the previous one (about raising the retirement age) is only that the previous outbreak of protest was deliberately hushed up by the world media, and the current outbreak of protest is also deliberately promoted by the world media, and so these are typical protest outbreaks in France that are approximately the same in intensity.
The last time such riots took place was in 2005 under Sarkozy when the "Contrat Première embauche" law was proposed. The former governement canceled the law proposition thanks to the riots, and situation became ok quickly. Macron is not Sarkozy, and the recent ''Reforme des retraites'' proved that he refuses to cancel any law proposition, on the contrary, he even use 49,3 to make it going faster.
In France, mass demonstrations, more or less violent (like the ones you mention on the subject of pensions) are considered
normal, but riots
are not considered normal by anyone in the country.
Here we have people robbing gun shops, burning schools, fighting with random people in the street, the government sending in the GIGN, the BRI, the RAID in certain cities (Lyon, Lille, Paris). Citizens' militias are starting to organize themselves, and that's a
bad sign for the health of our society.
What's really worrying is that the police unions are starting to communicate in dubious ways.
No, the situation isn't classic, even for the French people. I think it'll calm down, as it always does, but we're all aware that each riot becomes more violent than the last. We all know that every major demonstration is more violently repressed than the last.
These riots are just a reflection of the fact that our French society has reached the end of its patience on two specific issues: police' violence on the one hand, and immigration seen as virulent by some of the French on the other. What worries all the compatriots I talk to is the never-ending rise of this respective violence (police as well as demonstrators / rioters).
Situation in france not good now i hope it don't go over nice area like st tropez Cannes the french riviera wich one is always safe and nice location to be.
Don't worry, rich people and tourists are not the one who will burn everything in France lol