DefenseReview (DR) back from Paris (France), Where Terrorists Threaten, Socialists Strike and March, French Military and Police Forces Maintain Control, and the City just Keeps Humming Along. Fresh articles on the way!

By David Crane
defrev (at) gmail (dot) com

All photos and video clips contained in this article were shot by DefenseReview.com (DR), and are copyrighted. DefenseReview.com owns the copyright on these photos and video clips. The embedded photos and video clips were shot with a Canon PowerShot S90 10-megapixel digital camera (still camera with video capability).

October 19, 2010

We just got back from our 10-day Paris (France) trip, and we’ve got some fresh articles on the burner. But Paris is an interesting story, in itself. Between the terrorist threats and general strike marches, DefenseReview (DR) was in Paris during a very interesting time. We got to see French military infantry soldiers carrying their FAMAS F1 bullpup assault rifles on the Right Bank by Notre Dame…

…and the French National Police and Gendarmerie in their anti-riot gear on the Left Bank in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area of the 6th arrondissement, where we stayed.

We also got to witness a HUGE/GIGANTIC French socialist general strike march from inside it, and from the balcony of our second floor apartment (our slightly elevated perch, if you will) on rue de Rennes.  Those socialists don’t mess around, over there.  It got pretty freaky.  Notice the big, weird white puppet, shown below.

Radical Muslim terrorists recently threatened the Eiffel Tower. We photographed the tower a little bit. Our best shots of it were night shots. Pretty beautiful structure, huh? At night, it becomes the golden tower, and it is magnificent.

DefenseReview got to visit the American Embassy in Paris, and it was pretty cool. Needless to say, security was TIGHT. DR was not allowed to take photos or shoot video inside or outside the embassy, but it may very well be the nicest U.S. Embassy in the world (unconfirmed/unverified).

Oh, and the food in Paris was FANTASTIC, particularly the pastries. Our special thanks to Pierre Herme Patisserie and Gerard Mulot, Paris, both of whom make some of the best pastries, including chocolate pastries, on the planet.

Now that we’re back, we’ve got some fresh articles on the grill, so stay tuned!

Editor’s Note: “FAMAS” stands for “Fusil d’Assaut de la Manufacture d’Armes de St-Etienne”, which means “assault rifle of the Saint-Étienne weapon factory”. The FAMAS assault rifle was manufactured by the French company Nexter (formerly GIAT Industries), but, according to Defense Review member “Pierangelo Tendas”, the weapon is no longer in production. DR didn’t know why the French troops we saw were carrying the FAMAS F1 instead of the FAMAS G2 model, until Mr. Tendas just cleared it up, below.

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