And on the sixteenth day, a light, very light wind of protest blew along the route of the Olympic flame, which crossed the Vienne department on Saturday May 25 in the hands of 99 bearers.
A collective “Alert du 25”, bringing together activists from Greenpeace or Bassines non merci, had announced that they were planning « actions » to protest against the ongoing construction of gigantic water reservoirs in the department and water pollution.
“We find a billion in Paris to clean up the Seine and here we cannot manage to clean up the water and protect the catchment points”, regrets Alain, an activist from Greenpeace Poitiers. With others, he installed a banner “Here too let’s protect the water” very close to a point where the flame crossed, in the streets of the capital of Poitou.
The day before, the municipality’s anti-tag brigade had removed graffiti saying “No pain No game”, or “Olympics of shame”. More amusing, a video simulating a removal of the flame arrived in an email intended for a The New Central-West Republic accompanied by a series of demands: “If you want to reclaim the flame, we demand an immediate moratorium on mega basins, an end to the spraying of pesticides… and the return of Numbers and Letters. »
The same mantra heard a thousand times: “It’s only once in a lifetime!” »
At the municipal stadium, an enthusiastic crowd greeted the event with the same mantra heard a thousand times – “Seeing the Olympic flame is only once in a lifetime! » – and not entirely correct: many Poitevin residents remember seeing the flame pass through their home in 1991, a few weeks before the Albertville Olympic Games.
It prevents, “15,000 to 20,000 people” participated in the event on Saturday May 25 according to the mayor of Loudun, Joël Mazas, who shares with his Marseille counterpart a gift for exaggeration (Loudun has around 6,700 inhabitants according to INSEE).
Arriving in a torch at 9:28 a.m., with its procession of strong protectors, the flame and its bearer climbed onto a podium. One, then two, then three or four elected officials joined them for a souvenir photo, the men in front and the women behind.
At 9:30 a.m., she set off again, sheltered by a lantern. Direction Poitiers and the Futuroscope, last of the day’s eight stages, all marked by great popular fervor since the arrival of the flame in France on May 8.
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2024-05-26 04:29:22
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