Boulevard Saint Michel, Paris

The Boulevard Saint-Michel is one of the two major streets in the Quartier Latin of Paris (the other being the Boulevard Saint-Germain). It is a tree-lined boulevard which runs south from the pont Saint-Michel on the Seine river and the Place Saint-Michel, crosses the boulevard Saint-Germain and continues alongside the Sorbonne and the Luxembourg gardens, ending at the Place Camille Jullian just before the Port-Royal train station and the avenue de l'Observatoire. It was created by Baron Haussmann to run parallel to the rue Saint-Jacques which marks the historical North-South axis of Paris.

It serves as a boundary between the 5th arrondissement and the 6th arrondissement (odd-numbered buildings on the eastern side being in the 5th arrondissement and even numbers on the western side in the 6th). It has a length of 1380 m, an average width of 30 m and derives its name from the pont Saint-Michel (or "Saint Michael" bridge). In slang, the boulevard is sometimes referred to as the Boul'Mich.

As the central axis of the Quartier Latin, it was (and still is) a hotbed of student life and activism, but tourism is also a major commercial focus of the street and designer shops have gradually evicted many small bookshops. The northern part of the boulevard is nowadays the most frequented, due to its bookstores (such as the major bookstores Gibert Joseph and the Gibert Jeune), cafés, cinema and clothes shops.

The main buildings of the boulevard are the Musée de Cluny, the lycée Saint-Louis, the École des Mines, and the cité universitaire, the university area of the Sorbonne.

...and another France!

Paris, the nexr day after elections...

Riot police in Paris fired tear gas into crowds which gathered after Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential election victory.The disturbances happened at the Place de la Bastille, a popular hub for demonstrations and strikes.Thousands of police have been deployed in the capital and its suburbs.Railway stations were also under high surveillance in case gangs of youths travel to disrupt victory festivities.The trouble followed news that Sarkozy - a right-wing Conservative - is thought to have beaten socialist Segolene Royal by six points to replace Jacques Chirac.
Sarkozy - who in his victory speech vowed to represent all of France - said: "The French people have chosen change.They have decided to break with the ideas and habits of the past. I will rehabilitate work, authority, morality, respect, merit. I will restore honour to the nation and national identity - I will bring French pride back to the French people."

In a second speech to massed crowds, he said: "France has given me everything and the time has come for me to give back everything it has given." Sarkozy, who has promised 100 days of action when he takes control, added that America could "count on our friendship" but that it must take the lead on climate change. Initial exit polls revealed the reform-minded victor won 53% of the vote. Although unofficial, the exit polls are usually accurate.

After learning that Sarkozy had won with 53 percent of the vote, some protesters clashed with police, throwing rocks and bottles. Monday morning, 5,000 people gathered at Paris' Place de Bastille and about 300 attacked police, who dispersed the crowd with water cannon and tear gas, Deutsche Welle reported.

Protests were reported in several cities and suburbs, including Argenteuil, northwest of Paris, where rioters set fire to a parked bus and three other vehicles.

Argenteuil was one of the sites of 2005 youth rioting that occurred after then-Interior Minister Sarkozy called young residents of projects as "rabble and "scum."

More than 1,000 people protested in Nantes and two officers were slightly injured by thrown acid, police said. Two-thousand people protested and several police officers were injured in Bordeaux, Deutsche Welle said.

This is the new France...

Irina