The residents of Villa Montmorency, an upscale gated community in Paris’ 16th arrondissement that houses the villas of some of France’s wealthiest individuals (including billionaires Arnaud Lagardère and Vincent Bolloré), had probably never seen or heard anything like it before: a crowd, a sort of static demonstration, unlike any other protest. There were at least several hundred people, perhaps even over 1,000, packed between Rue de la Source and Rue Pierre-Guérin, at the foot of former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s home. Many had white hair, but the crowd also featured some formally dressed young people.
On Tuesday, October 21, at the time of the morning when people usually take children to school, the mood was somber and contemplative. The silence was only broken by renditions of the national anthem La Marseillaise, applause, or chants of «Nicolas, we’re with you.» Everyone in the crowd had answered a call issued by the former president’s three sons, who had organized the gathering to support their father, as he was due to be incarcerated that day at Paris’ La Santé prison. Pierre Sarkozy had specified, in a message posted on X, that the event would be guided by «love,» since «only love matters.»
You have 73.14% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.