The last weekend of August marked the transition from the summer break months to back-to-business September. Those two days were strange and brought out very different groups of people crossing paths: families coming back from holidays, students celebrating the beginning of the upcoming school year (booze included), political parties with an agenda… and yes, protesters.

On Thursday night, the neighbours downstairs started partying at 2 a.m. and we spent several hours arguing with them, telling them to calm the fuck down, and attempting to sleep. This was just the beginning of a noisy weekend. On Saturday, I couldn’t even figure out who was shouting the loudest in the street—and why. I saw a bunch of people with a Breton flag screaming “Bretons are fags!” (??), angry animal rights activists (something to do with dolphins) and other unidentified groups of protesters.

On Sunday, I realized that there must have been a big demonstration against the Socialist Party, currently in power, when I noticed the many new graffiti and broken windows.

The Socialist Party fell out of favour with most left-wing taxpayers with the controversial labour code reform tabled in the spring. The Party’s worst enemy is currently its own electorate, as many complain that its policy is more liberal than the opposition’s, the right-wing Les Républicains. Basically, the left-wing party has a right-wing agenda. Merde, eh?

A new president will be elected next spring and the race is just starting. Both right-wing and left-wing parties are looking for a strong leader but they have yet to find the right person. Sarkozy, the former president, just announced he was running again. I hope French remember he really sucks. The usual suspects will be running too, dozens of candidates so far, names that have associated with the words “candidate,” “minister,” “politics” and occasionally “scandals” for years, decades even. Can we have new blood, please?

I don’t know yet who I will be voting for. The most far-left party, for sure. I don’t trust the Socialists either and I still believe we can make the world a better place.

I won’t be breaking windows, though. Promise.