Only in France would they come up with THIS way of ringing in the New Year:
Hundreds of protesters in France have rung in the New Year by holding a light-hearted march against it.
Parodying the French readiness to say “non”, the demonstrators in the western city of Nantes waved banners reading: “No to 2007” and “Now is better!”
The marchers called on governments and the UN to stop time’s “mad race” and declare a moratorium on the future.
The protest was held in the rain and organisers joked that even the weather was against the New Year.
The tension mounted as the minutes ticked away towards midnight – but the arrival of 2007 did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.
The protesters began to chant: “No to 2008!”
They vowed to stage a similar protest on 31 December 2007 on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris.
Actually, I can totally get behind that. What a novel idea: A New Year’s tradition that’s actually fun–because it addresses the ambivalence and even rage we feel at seeing another year go down the tube, minus the usual anesthesia. It sure beats waking up hung over and wondering why the hell you fell into that trap yet again–and feeling all the loathing and then some. Also beats spending a fortune on champagne, oui?
So, mes amis en France, I salute you with joie de vivre en anglais, courtesy of Adam Ant:
“In the night when things go bump,
Think of me,
Think ‘here comes the Grump’…”
