Our Grand Tour 2026, Part 6: Paris is Burning

 After London, it was off to Paris!

We opted to take the Eurostar train into Paris rather than fly—my touchstone for this train was the first Mission:Impossible film lol. The ride was a lovely experience, but unfortunately, I encountered no espionage or nefariousness, only tourists and commuters. But it was cool to leave the UK and go through its passport exit controls at St. Pancras International Station, then walk 20 feet or so to enter France through its own border control and security. So once the Eurostar arrives in Paris at the Gare du Nord station, you just step off the train and you’re on your way! I wryly noted to my better half that our two-and-a-half hour trip took the allies nearly three months to travel in 1944. But of course we didn’t face hedgerows and the axis war machine.  

I’ll get straight to the first question people have asked about Paris—we felt perfectly safe and saw none of the clashes. We arrived the Sunday of the protests, so likely missed the worst of it. That said, we did meet other fellow Americans who told us that they saw some of the mishigas and encountered some closed venues. But I assume revolutionaries have to work during the week too!

Nevertheless, one of the areas we visited for dinner clearly had been part of the protests because we saw boarded up businesses, some police presence, defaced monuments, and lots of graffiti. (My wife noticed the acronym “ACAB” spray painted many places—she learned it stood for “All Cops Are B*stards.)

We later learned that we were staying in a somewhat posh part of Paris (Passy), and noticed a local Chanel store and some other businesses boarding up their windows, even though I don't believe we were anywhere near the protests. We realized afterwards they were doing so as a precaution in anticipation of this weekend’s protests.

And to bring it full circle, our tour guide at Versailles connected the present day protests to the 1789 French Revolution by noting that Versailles was partly built to take the government away from the intrigue and unrest of Paris—remarking that, politicians then and since, have learned, "Never piss off the Parisians!”