COPS

My friends and I - and at least a couple thousand other people - were tear-gassed last night. November 17 was "Beaujolais Nouveau," a celebratory release night for a mediocre wine. Somehow it's built up an international reputation, with bottles selling in China for 150 euros - when the same product sells for 3.60 in grocery stores here. Flocks of people were downtown and apparently the celebration was getting out-of-hand... so around 12:40am police started launching tear gas canisters. There were thunderous booms as they were released; I thought it was a riot shotgun or some type of noise machine at first. Then my nose started aching and people around me were coughing, rubbing their eyes and covering their mouths with scarfs. Throngs of people left the "Place aux Herbes," the main gathering point, and streamed down side streets. After watching the situation from a distance (tried filming it, but the video is lousy quality), we walked half an hour back to the dorms. Perhaps 10 police cars raced in the opposite direction, towards downtown. A friend said he saw police in full riot gear in a van but I don't know if they were actually deployed. Another exciting night in Grenoble, to say the least.