The storm that is hitting France came out of what looked like a clear blue sky.  The angry demonstrators, known as 'gilets jaunes' (yellow jackets), for the warning vests all motorists must keep in their cars, inundated Paris last weekend in peaceful  protests over the government's planned increases in fuel prices, which were already among Europe's highest.

As too often in France, violent vandals known as 'the breakers,' infiltrated the demonstrators and sought to put the most beautiful parts of Paris to the sack.  I watched with horror as the magnificent Arc de Triomphe, France's premier war memorial, was befouled by spray-can graffiti.  The majestic Champs Élysée was ravaged by hoodlums, who smashed showroom windows, burned cars, looted luxury stores and set scores of fires.