Juan Carlos Cacho, from Soriano living in Germany, has traveled with his family to France to visit his sister Mariola, taking advantage of the ‘autumn holidays’ in the German country and thus, getting to know Paris with his children. “Many times we saw the Eiffel Tower from afar when we drove by when traveling to Spain and we have always thought about going in,” he tells Soria News. And this year, it was the chosen one! However, the protests and riots in the country made them modify your plans initials to avoid possible risk situations.
“On Saturday we wanted to go to Paris, but my sister already told us that there were going to be protests and we are not going to get into the eye of the hurricane either,” he explains. Finally, they decided visit the French capital on Sundaywhen the demonstrations had already taken place.
The family decided to move by car to avoid depending on the train or subway. Once in Paris, they parked near the Torre Eiffel and visited some of the most emblematic places in the city. They went up to the second floor of the tower, after ascending the 668 steps and also strolled through the surroundings of Notre Dame and the Louvre Museum.
Although before leaving they considered whether it was convenient to go with the children, Juan Carlos assures that they did not feel afraid during the visit. “When we arrived at the area where we went there was nothing. “We didn’t see things lying around or anything,” he says. Everything was calm. In addition, he remembers that there were numerous tourists and that, in the areas they visited, they did not perceive a tense environment. “Really, where the situation was worst was because of the Champs Elyséesamong others, where the protests took place the day before,” he points out Soria News.
Still, they decided leave Paris soon to avoid possible complications during the night. “I don’t want to take risks either. It catches us there in the middle or they burn our car, well… better not to think about it,” he comments on the possibility of finding himself in half of the riots.
“That can never be recovered again.”
Beyond personal experience, what most has impressed The damage caused to this Soriano has been historical heritage already the establishments affected by the riots. In particular, regret the images of historic buildings burned and businesses looted. “See the Limoges town halla historic building burning, watching all the equity value and the architecture that France has is tremendously sad. That doesn’t come back,” he says.
He is also concerned about economic impact what looting can have on small businesses. “They are protesting something and They ruin everyone else’s lives“, he reflects. In his opinion, behind each bar, restaurant or store affected there may be a family that depends on that business and that faces important difficulties to recover from damages.
Juan Carlos considers that these images offer a worrying view of the situation in France and wonders if something similar could happen in Spain. Although he recognizes that in our country there have also been episodes of vandalism occurred, believes that what happened in France has reached a dimension that it is difficult to understand.
Despite this impression, his direct experience in Paris was calm. The family was able to enjoy the main tourist attractions without encountering disturbances and returned without incident. A trip that had the objective of visiting his sister and sharing a few days of vacation with her and the children, but that has also left him a deep concern about the consequences of violence about the heritage and lives of those who live from their small businesses.
Source: sorianoticias.com
