No hike for us today.

Thursday, October 14, 2010 Day 106

Today we had planned to go on an AWG hike. A couple of days ago, Jan, who picked us up at the tram station last month, emailed us and asked if we needed a ride again. We replied that we did, and asked if 9:25 was okay with her. We got no reply. Last night, before we went to bed, Roger asked me if I had checked with Jan. I said no, and pulled up the AWG newsletter to check the date. I noted there that those interested in the hike were requested to contact the leader, Mariannick, which I had not done. I figured it was kind of late at this point, and besides, we had a ride. SO . . .

Before boarding the tram, we stopped at a boulangerie and bought a sandwich for Roger and a wrap for me for our picnic lunch on the hike. We then hopped the tram and rode up to the Occitanie stop, arriving at 9:15. It was quite cool – probably 50 degrees or so. We stood and waited until 9:45, which was the meeting time for carpoolers at the designated location. We finally realized that no one was going to meet us, so we boarded the tram again and headed back to the Comedie. On the way I gave up my seat on the tram to an older guy with a cane. I felt vindicated for having taken the young man’s seat yesterday.

We exited the tram and started across the plaza toward a main corridor. As we arrived at the corridor, we could hear chanting and saw a group of marchers coming our way. We scooted in the direction of our apartment so that we would not be cut off by the crowd, then stood to watch. There were probably 2,000 students marching and chanting. A few marchers carried signs, but most just chanted or skipped along. There was one sign indicating that the marchers were from the Lycée Joffrey, a local high school. They were followed by some of their teachers.

The march and the general strike which started on Tuesday are against the retirement reforms which the government is reportedly forcing through. One newspaper I saw said that 71% of the French population favors the strike. I think these kids favor it because it gives them time off from their classes, not because of any deep conviction that the retirement age should not be raised. One wonders if they realized that, if the retirement age is not raised, there will be no money to fund their retirement.

Peggy told us last night about a nearby open-air market of which we were not aware, so we walked over and checked it out. It had a larger array of fruits and vegetables than many of the markets we attend, but there was very little in the way of meats or fish. We bought nothing. We returned to the house to eat our “picnic” lunch. We contemplated eating it in a park, but it was rather cool and we still had not recovered completely from our 30 minutes of standing in the cool morning wind waiting for a ride, so we took the warm route and ate at home.

Roger played chess again in the afternoon. This time he came home triumphant, having won almost all his games. He said he played at the lower table and was able to beat the lesser players.