Oddly enough, walkinround's list somehow completely omitted any mention of riots in the UK, like the Tottenham riots of 1985. Rioting in the UK is not limited to football hooligans.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/d...00/4094928.stm

Right on Voyager..The poster just reinforced the actual facts of whats is happening; she did not invent or imagined whats going, she just quoted what is in every tv news stations and papers ,that you need to be very Careful.
Indeed, France at this moment is not a safe place for anyone, tourists or non tourists..

I have family there and (of course) everybody is fine! You have to know where to go to be safe as it is anywhere on this planet. This "general danger" statement is NONSENSE! If you happen to live in an affected suburb, you of course can get into trouble. If anybody wants to cancel his trip, please go ahead. It'll only get less crowded for the rest of us.

As I just saw on CNN, there have now been riots in 220 French cities. I'll agree there are safe places, but it's kind of hard to ignore such widespread activity. If it were 20 cities it would be one thing -- but 220?

I am leaving for Paris in the morning for a week. I am not concerned about the riots. If anyone would like i will post a message when I get there to inform all what it's really like and if it's safe for travelers.

logos, I'm really happy that everyone in your family is fine.

But at this point no one knows what will happen from day to day or where the violence might strike next.

Some people have been injured and even killed. Property has been burned and looted. Public transports have been attacked and stopped. The French government has declared a state of emergency. It's not all made up.

It doesn't appear very likely that the tourist centers of Paris will feel any great impact. But it isn't unreasonable for people to take precautions. It isn't even unreasonable for people to cancel their vacations in France IF worrying about what might happen could ruin the vacation for them--whether or not anything actually happens.

no, btilke, it's not odd...this is obviously just a very small sample. i am well aware of brixton, northern ireland, etc, etc....and of course the recent troubles in birmingham (the original one).

and i do believe that the football violence is relevent as it is as disgusting as what is happening in paris, and it is far too ingrained in the culture. i am not looking the other way when it comes to rioting here.

>But at this point no one knows what will happen from day to day or where the violence might strike next.

That's true. (It can always be right at your dorstep whereever you are) The big problem for tourists is that they see violence on TV and think it's everywhere and danger is all around them, which is far from being true in France.

From today's New York news:

<b>&quot;There is no Western country more profoundly racist than France. There's nothing resembling equal-opportunity programs or affirmative action. Even if the government attempts some half-hearted reforms in the wake of the current uproar, the average French employer will have none of it (they don't even want to hire more white citoyens). And French voters will turn hard right at the next election.

Does anyone really believe that the country that enthusiastically handed over more of its Jewish citizens to the Nazis than the Nazis asked for is going to treat brown or black Muslims as equals?&quot;</b>

I just returned from 2 weeks in France. Given the current crisis, it's hard to forget the words of a white Parisian taxi driver, who warned that I shouldn't go to Marseille with my female friends because &quot;the Algerians there are animals, they are all animals.&quot;

The current unrest is a tragedy, but a long-simmering one that the head-in-the-sand government has denied for far too long.