The spirit of protest

If I'm lucky, I thought, maybe I will get a taste of the demonstrations for which France is known. Columbia - which had its share of civil disobedience in fall 2007 when students went on a hunger strike against the university's lack of diversity - warns study abroad students to avoid similar conflicts in foreign countries. They have reason to fear, as even during the protests at the G20 summit in London, heralded for exemplifying nonviolent resistance in the civilized world, a nearby nonparticipant died of a heart attack after being shoved by police.

Here in the northern port of Boulogne-sur-Mer is the closest I've come, as fishermen have shut down the harbor (among others along the coast) to protest quotas on cod and sole. According to the New York Times, "fishermen have resorted to dumping fish that they had caught overboard before returning to port because of the quotas." It reminded me of summer 2007, the only time I've been fishing. Off the southern coast of Long Island, we had to throw a lot of fish back into the water because they were too small according to fishing regulations, although I did win a prize for catching the biggest fish that day.

News crews stand out in otherwise quiet Boulogne-sur-Mer. Mostly they sat around waiting for something to happen, but it was slightly ridiculous to do man-on-the-street reporting near the beach, filled mostly with English tourists. But at least now that I've seen the crowded harbor and smelled the salty waters hitting the beach, I can understand why anyone would visit this small town.

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Listening to: Bee Gees