Paris is a city where people take to the streets, challenge authority and refuse to accept the status quo. But what happens when revolution is something outside your front door? For Londoners who have swapped one European capital for another, the recent demonstrations have become more than a dramatic clip on their social media feed. For them, protest means disrupted journeys, cancelled plans, police in riot gear and the unsettling sense that an ordinary day can become anything but.
Yet speaking to three Londoners who have made Paris their home, one thing becomes clear: none of them regrets the move. For Ava May, who graduated from London College of Fashion this summer and now works as an au pair for a Parisian family, the immediate impact has been on the small freedoms that make a city feel like home. The 11pm curfew around Place de la République has disrupted her social life, while transport restrictions have made familiar nights out increasingly difficult.
