Buses on Bastille Day

I got the bus to work the other day in Strasbourg. I sat at the bus stop and noticed something - despite being a weekday, there was virtually no traffic on the roads, and the buses, usually there every 10 minutes, were nowhere to be seen. After 45 minutes, I began to wonder if the population of Strasbourg had been taken out by some viral weapon that only people from England with names beginning with M have immunity to.

Then, it occurred to me - it was Bastille Day, the day the French overthrew their corrupt political class, and stormed the Bastille prison. May interest you to learn that the site of the Bastille was where the victorious French "Non" campaigners against the EU Constitution gathered to celebrate their victory.

Anyhows, after 45 minutes, I saw a tractor roar past, with a live cow in a horse box being pulled behind it. Turns out there was a protest at the Strasbourg parliament against milk producers subsidies. It appears the French appetite for protest is still alive and well, in keeping with the Bastille spirit.

In the end I had to walk to work...