@Parsifal; thanks for that reply, you've raised interesting points in addition to those of
@pintohoo. Your assessment of where Macron sits on the political spectrum matches my own - he's far closer to Marine Le Penn than to Mitterande or Hollande and certainly far more authoritarian.
While touring France my wife and I took trains between places and walked almost everywhere within places including Paris, Lyon and Toulouse. The only significant change we've noticed over a period of about twenty years has been the advent of 'roaming' vendors - sometimes being pursued by teams of Police at places including the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur and Place de la Concord.
Regional centres including Bordeaux, Reims, Limoges, Blois, Chartres, Troyes, Avignon, Dijon, Montpellier and Orleans appeared to be little different than before - except for new tram systems.
So what's really changed during Macron's term in office ... therein lies the root causes of what France is experiencing.
