A Dispassionate Discussion with the Members of the Band

E-nough has photos from the May 1st gathering at La Bastille in support of Ségolène Royal, during which a Brazilian band played.

I used to play in that batucada band! Every Sunday afternoon we'd play at the Cité de la Musique (they still do, probably). That was four years ago, and apart form the odd participation in a pro-ecology march, politics was, needless to say, rarely if ever involved.

• Everyday Meetings with Common Europeans

Then I was invited to dinner at one (French) drummer's apartment with half a dozen other people (most members of the band were/are French), and he and his wife told us of their magnificent vacation to Cuba, and they started praising the island. I made a comment, a rather innocent one actually, and suddenly everybody else was all over me. They'd been there, they said angrily, and didn't I realize that that country had no poverty?! They'd been to Havana, and not seen one single poor person in the streets!! C'est alors que j'ai commencé à prendre mes distances…