Interestingly enough, the intersection between Gay-Lussac and Boulevard Saint Michel had significant impacts on the May 1968 Student Uprisings in Paris, as many of the photos we see from the conflict come from the congregation of protesters in the area sporting signs and other pieces of equipment showcasing there displease of the government and focus on equality for workers, as well as their love of communism. Like the photos above, we can see this throughout the research of the topic. However, one might also infer that with the amount of people and revolutionary rhetoric being spoken at these meet-ups that violent clashes with police would be inevitable… and this assumption would be correct. This intersection provided police with constant harassment by protesters influenced by their peers in close proximity. Burning cars were especially apparent as protesters wanted to assert their dominance and thwart police moral, showcasing how far they will go to incite chaos and violence[1]. Furthermore, this is the only case in which we see the Paris police use a 'scorched earth tactic'[2], a tactic usually employed in military conflicts which includes destroying anything useful for your advancing advisory. This must have been devastating for not only the protesters but Paris itself including the intersection as we can see this created a plethora of debris of destroyed property. With over twenty thousand student protesters from the university of Sorbonne alone flooding the streets in the very beginning of the protests on May 10^th (1968)[3], one might see how chaotic these streets have now become, and the intersection which we can see from the google maps image, is of vital importance for traffic flow in the area. Even though students set up barricades throughout the late hours of the night, police were adamant in destroying them, causing violence to occur in these streets all day, and all night as residence surly watch in horror[4]. These events only fueled the 'fire' inside the students of Sorbonne as many of them used these happenings to create a university-based movement that would eventually get all of France to take notice[5], because of this and as we saw among the other points of interest, this only caused more and more students to become radicalized and join the cause for revolutionary change in the government of France. However, it was here, at this intersection, where the bulk of the violence and meet-ups of thousands of protesters was seen during the May 1968 Student Uprisings in Paris.

(1)Daniel Singer, Prelude to Revolution: France in May 1968 (South End Press, 2002), 137.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Steinfels, Peter. "Paris, May 1968: The revolution that never was." The New York Times. May 11, 2008. Accessed November 24, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/world/europe/11iht-paris.4.12777919.html.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Wolin, Richard. "Events of May 1968." Encyclopædia Britannica. September 19, 2017. Accessed November 24, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/event/events-of-May-1968.

To conclude, it is clear that the evidence of the devastation the May 1968 Student Uprisings in Paris is irrefutable. Locations like the University of Sorbonne, The Bourse de Paris, and the Latin Quarter showed one the profound impact these protests had on the architecture of Paris. Tear gas was thrown, Molotov cocktails were used to set buildings ablaze with countless protesters blocking their way to ensure safety of the buildings, students were burning cars and using debris as blockades littering the streets and making them un-useable to the public. Along with this, one could see the psychological devastation the violence would have in areas like the Place de L'Odeon, The Petit Suisse Café, and the intersection of Gay-Lussac and Boulevard Saint Michel, with the countless photos of protesters fighting the police congregating massive 'armies' of radical protesters and hanging signs to showcase occupations and dominance. This attack on the government regime was huge for the city of Paris, and will be remembered for years to come. Realizing the devastation that occurred was the main point of the tour only to be achieved when looking at the evidence of Paris in modern times, and 1968 Paris using the points of interest as the 'stepping stones' to relate both time periods to see the astounding difference in the two. Even though the May 1968 Student Uprisings in Paris were very dark times for the cities history, Paris is now seen as one of the most beautiful destinations. As walked through to get to each point of interest, one would get to see the many notable features of Paris such as the Arch du Triumph and the elegant Cafes scattered across the city, thus showing the tourist how stunning and unique Paris can be, and will be for generations to come.

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