The murders at Saint-Just, France

[gunwharfman]

This incident reminds me of an incident I experienced when hiking in France a few years ago. I was walking along the GR65 and it was an area of rolling hills, fields and woodland. I had come out from a forest, turned right and had to walk along a tarmacked narrow road. It was hot and sunny and about midday. I strolled for some time, no traffic came along but I then saw a small hamlet ahead of me. I crossed my fingers and hoped I could get a beer there. I became aware to my left of the sound of an approaching helicopter and when I looked I could see it was flying fast and close to the ground. I kept walking and I was near to the first couple of houses. The helicopter got noisier and appeared to be flying straight at me! It got to within about 100 yds of me and spun around and landed to my left in a small grassed field.

Immediately, four policemen, helmets on and padded, with machine guns jumped out and started running to the centre of the hamlet about 200 yds away. It was so exciting and I speeded up wondering what was going on? I could see a small crowd of men and women looking up to a balcony with a middle-aged man standing still there with his hands up. Two policemen stood in the street below with their guns trained on him. The other two bounded up the external staircase, overpowered him, put on handcuffs and bundled him down to the street, they then, with fuss rushed him to the helicopter and they were gone!

Everyone around me was jabbering away and I tried to ask what was going on? All that I found out was from a lady who said to me, "domestic violence!" and did a couple of punch and kicking moves to emphasis her words. And that was it.

There was no cafe in the hamlet so no beer. I soon wandered off. When I heard about the Saint-Just incident I was immediately reminded of my experience that day.

[windyrigg]

Wow, that's a bit bizarre!

[Dodgylegs]

It's amazing what you come across when out for a walk...

[Birdman]

Pretty exciting stuff!
I once found a human skull when walking along the Ganges in India, but that is nothing special there.

 

[gunwharfman]

Mind you I've always been a bit nervous of the French Police. I remember as a young man being in Paris in the 60s student riots, the Police then were beating young people with white long sticks, its the sort of thing you don't forget.

My friend and I had been to Germany and decided to have a look around Paris on the way back, we soon left!

[Dodgylegs]

During many trips to France for 24 hours of Le Mans you become aware of the CRS turning up to deal with
drunken (usually) British visitors the night before the race, scary stuff to watch but soon sorts out the trouble!
They don't mess about!

[fernman]

My 60s experiences with les flics were at the time of the Algeria unrest.

The first was when I was walking southwards out of the capital to reach the start of the main road to the Mediterranean. I became aware of large numbers of police along the way, until eventually an officer stepped out of a doorway and instructed me to wait there. A cavalcade of police motorcycles and cars came hee-hawing along the road at great speed, with a few black limousines in the middle. That was President de Gaulle on his way to Paris from Orly airport.

The next one of note (there were others ) was when I was walking past the Louvre very late at night, gaining on the gendarme who was ahead of me. Just as I was about to pass him in my rubber-soled footwear, he quickly span around and I found myself looking down the barrel of an automatic rifle that had been hidden beneath his cloak. If he had been at all trigger-happy I wouldn't be writing this now.

[fernman]

I've just recalled an incident in north Wales in the 80s, I was driving eastwards towards Conwy at night, I think it must have been after one of my walking-and-wild-camping trips, when there was some sort of a holdup ahead, which turned out to be a police roadblock. Where have you been, where are you going, where are you from, where are you staying? The officer was visibly excited at having found an outsider like me, and he called some of his colleagues over, who took me aside and gave me a good grilling. They seemed satisfied with my answers, and let me on my way. I later found out that a vicar had been found murdered near to where I was staying. (A pair of local lads were eventually convicted for it.)

[gunwharfman]

My personal best, although I didn't think it so at the time, was when my mate and I came out of the Heineken Brewery in Amsterdam in the 60s. In those days it was free beer for students for two hours, just show your passport! We met up with four Aussie girls and followed them like Pavlov's dogs into the street, all of us drunk but feeling amazingly happy. It was heady days in the 60s! As we followed along behind the girls they kept flicking tourist stuff, clogs etc onto the pavement from the tourist shops and muggins (ME!) kept picking it up! Then a Dutch Police Maria van came at us and we were all bundled into it and taken to a Police station, no idea where! We were all bundled into a 6 x 6 cell, then as we sobered up we were interviewed one by one. The Policeman in charge then decided our punishment. We were all taken back to our cell and told that we could not leave until all of us had 'wet' ourselves! It was a desperate situation and eventually, and boy did we suffer, but in the end, we all succumbed. The cell smell was foul. We were then let loose onto the streets of Amsterdam again. The Aussie girls went one way, my mate and I went off in a different route, we never saw them again. I still remember walking the streets looking for our hostel feeling wet, cold, miserable and depressed! Looking back I think the Amsterdam Police were great, there was no rough stuff, they were polite, they were certainly amused but they were firm in their resolve! They saw it through to the end. I never ever got that drunk again.