By Bonheur Mbaya ’24 and Rohan Sabarikanth ’24
Photo by Rohan Sabarikanth
The St. Paul’s Schools French exchange trip departed from Dulles International Airport on March 8th and returned on March 18th. Our trip, which flew into and out of Charles de Gaulle Airport with an accompanying train ticket to Marseille, entailed five days in Marseille with host families, then a train back to Paris, where we spent the rest of the time touring the capital and lodging in a hotel. Our exchange trip would, however, be put in jeopardy by the political unrest in France, caused by a proposed law that would increase the age of retirement.
During our time in Marseille, we stayed with two amazing host brothers. Rohan’s host was Pablo, and Bonheur’s host was Antoine. Both Pablo and Antoine immersed us in French culture throughout our stay. With a mix of French and English, we had multiple conversations about politics, and most importantly, day-to-day life in France. One of the most interesting conversations both of us had with our hosts was the conversation about President Macron’s retirement age bill.
We learned that in mid-January of 2023, after years of federal and public opposition, President Emmanuel Macron began his final push to raise France’s legal retirement age from 62 to 64. Following months of turmoil, the situation reached a peak in March. Macron originally wanted to raise the retirement age because, with modern medicine, the average age of death has risen, meaning people can recover from illnesses and continue working for longer. This extra 2 years of the population working would also provide a tremendous boost to the French economy by putting “more money into the system, which the government says is on course to run a deficit,” and every country could use a boost after the Covid-19 pandemic (Corbet and Ganley). France would, consequently, be more competitive in the world markets.
This law continues to send shock waves throughout France. On the weekend after our arrival, we assumed the wake up time would be early to participate in all the activities Marseille had to offer, but Antoine’s dad (the father of Bonheur’s host) said “you Americans wake up so early. On weekends, we rest”. This sparked further conversation about leisure in America versus leisure in France. We explained that many Americans find peace and leisure in other activities they participate in—for example, playing a sport after school would be found quite enjoyable. However, in France, sports or hobbies would still be considered “working.”
Many of the hosts were also taken aback by the fact that many American teens work small jobs. In Paris, to our annoyance, we found that many shops and restaurants open later (around noon) and close earlier (around 7pm). Weekends and nights for the French are truly times to stop every aspect of work and relax. France’s “work-to-live” lifestyle juxtaposed with America’s “live-to-work” lifestyle is the main conflict about the impact of the raising of the retirement age.
Although political unrest is never something to be glamorized, our trip was both hindered and enhanced by the strikes and protests that were, and currently are, taking place. Two days before departure, we had become aware that French train workers, attempting to combat Macron’s bill, were on strike. Our TGV (the French high-speed electric train) tickets became null and void, so we had to fill up our time until a new train that had operators arrived much later in the day. The day began when we landed at 6:00 am in Paris and took a turn for the better as we went on an hour bus ride from the CDG Airport to tour the Palace of Versailles. We walked through a prior hunting lodge and seat of power and snapped plenty of photos in the infamous Hall of Mirrors. At 6:00 pm, we took a night train to Marseille.
Photo by Madame Jen Burstein
While in Marseille, we had several conversations with our host families about the social, political, systematic, and socioeconomic differences between America and France. From gun violence to health care, no topic was left untouched during our stay. While climbing and picnicking in the Calanques mountains of Marseille, Pablo and Antoine asked about the differences between rebellion in America and France. Antoine had spoken about how he had attended a protest in Marseille over Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age, walking 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) to get there.
Pablo and Antoine explained that French media only normalizes protests (makes protests not an issue) after a huge political change already passes, and not during the buildup of said change. Consequently, protests after significant political change are completed often shift into violence and riots. They observed how Americans are more prone to riot or protest after social injustices rather than governmental ones, (i.e., George Floyd and Freddie Gray riots), while it is the reverse in France. We also discussed how work strikes are uncommon in America, since everyone is dependent on a paycheck in this capitalistic country. However, “In France, it is a lifestyle to strike and demonstrate,” Pablo said. “If not, how will things get done?”
We returned to Paris on March 14th, where a trash strike had begun shortly prior. The experience was eye-opening, to put it frankly. In our tight-knit community of Lutherville, Maryland, it is rare to see striking workers.
Photo by Bonheur Mbaya ’24
None of us had seen large political protests before, so to see these in France was truly eye-opening. If the people are not fighting for what’s right, a community becomes but a fantasy.
Despite all the striking showing good faith and strong will of the people of France, President Macron found a loophole “by shunning parliament and invoking a special constitutional power” to pass the retirement bill anyway. As a result, the night before we left, Paris was set aflame. There are still burnings and protests going on today.
Photo by Bonheur Mbaya ’24
As exciting as the protests were, our group from St. Paul’s was terrified that the workers at the airline would strike as well and leave us stranded amid the chaos, but we safely boarded and landed as scheduled.
Our trip would have been incomplete without seeing these public demonstrations of how a society abroad navigates its way through problems. Our hearts are still with the people of France in solidarity, and we salute them for rising in the face of perceived injustice and using their voices for what matters to them.
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