43. Sun and guns and tons of fun

Today was gorgeous. Just the comfortable side of hot, sunny but with some clouds to break it up and a breeze. Perfect for a walk to l'Isle de la Cite, the island in the Seine where Notre Dame cathedral stands. Oh, now I'm spoiling the sonnet. Some stuff happened and was seen.

People don't give the ass-end of the cathedral its due;
 she really shows off her flying buttresses back there.
 Hot.

An awesome day was had in Paris town!

The forecast called for warmth and sun all day;

perhaps a bit of rain as night came down.

By then, though, we'd be back home, anyway.

A walk to l'Isle de la Cite ensued--

that's where that big cathedral lives, you know.

The riot cops our way sought to exclude,

but, crafty, we another way did go.

A piano on a bridge; a free masseuse!

And gypsy children, practicing their cons.

With such sights seen we needed no excuse

to have some drinks and chat til they were gone.

And while I walked toward home I thought, “What luck!”

For on a wall, inviting pics: a duck.

See? Duck.

And here are some pics of the rest of what I'm talking about, since the sonnet doesn't really leave much room for explanation.

We couldn't get across one bridge because, like, *all* the cops were there, riot-geared up and stopping people. There was some crowd across the way, making a ruckus. 

See? All the cops. More cops, with more shoulder pads,
than we've seen at any of the demonstrations we've been to here.

Look at this action figure! So many accessories!

Gendarme Joe was my favorite.

We first heard all the demonstrators were people protesting Sarkozy's loss; then that it was a labor union. Finally we heard it was the cops themselves (the off-duty ones), demonstrating for...something. We never found out.

Then we saw the Cathedral. We watched tourists take pictures of themselves.

On the other side, on a bridge, was some stuff.

A dude, his piano, and his cymbalist (not seen), just hanging out
 on a bridge, playing for love. And money. 

Several ladies, also hanging out on the bridge, giving free ten minute massages.

The scam works like this: one of them comes up to you, waving his pen, with a petition about rights for deaf people. While you try to figure out what's going on (they act like they're deaf), another one comes and picks your pocket.

On the way home I saw the cops were breaking up the piano party. Sad.