La Butte-aux-cailles

Had a fairly uneventful last few days.

Saturday night I went out to eat in a Basque restaurant with some new friends in la Butte-aux-Cailles. The place was very lively, and packed full of people. People flooded around the tiny bar for drinks and hordes of people huddled about outside waiting to be seated. Apparently this place (Chez Glandines) is always this busy, so I felt lucky to eat there. The portion sizes were the biggest I'd seen yet in any Parisian restaurant but it was still not overwhelming.

As we all talked for a while I remarked how impressive it was that the restaurant did so well, considering it was a little off the broken path. Claire (who is a young woman working in finance) said that part of the reason for that is the location has deep historical value.

After the war with Prussia, initiated by Napoleon III in 1870, turned out disastrously for France, Paris fell under siege. Soon after France's central government signed an Armistice, which allowed among other concessions, a triumphal march into Paris. Many Parisians loathed this, and coupled with the widening wealth disparity and food shortages in the city, tensions were very high. When the central government attempted to seize weaponry from some potentially rebellious Parisians, the discouraged military and civilians simply joined forces. The rebellion spread quickly and ultimately led to the formation of a temporary city government known as the Commune.

At this point, France was at the brink of civil war with two separate armed-governements ready to clash. Opening skirmishes led to large scale battles. The Paris Commune failed to rally the rest of the country to their defense and eventually lost a brutal, and spiteful war. Claire informed me that the Butte-aux-Cailles was one of the Commune's last strong holds and that in order for the opposing government to eliminate their enemies, they shave the hill in half! She told me that the hill used to be higher than that of the famous Montmartre.

The rest of the weekend was fairly lazy. Sunday morning we went to church and read all day. Monday was equally uneventful. Today has been a big day for protestors and strikers across France as tomorrow is the start of the senate debate/ vote to pass retirement reform. Lauren's high school was blocked by striking students today so she couldn't work.Well have to seen how it all plays out.