While most people were out getting drunk and kicking trash cans over, some housing advocates in Paris slept in tents near Canal St. Martin. In December 2005, Doctors of the World began distributing nylon pup tents to the homeless individuals of Paris, and recently the movement has caught popularity in cities such as Toulouse and Lyon. Paris has roughly the same amount of homeless individuals as Los Angeles [86,000]. President Chirac has commented on the demonstration and has even proposed to fix the problems, but many activists are skeptical of his promises. When media attention is diverted, police forces come and break up the encampments. Hopefully, through the non-violent demonstrations Paris can set an example for housing the poor.

NYTimes Article