Mixed reception for Paris protesters

The protesters include both left and right-wing voters

By BBC News Online's Sheila Barter In Paris

The young civil servant holding an anti-Le Pen poster is not a member of any political party, and has never demonstrated before in her life.

Half of the demonstrators didn't vote, so they can hardly complain

Paris resident

Now she is standing at the Place de La Bastille in Paris, one of tens of thousands of people who have taken to the streets of France's cities to register their disgust at what Jean-Marie Le Pen stands for.

"I cried on Sunday night when I saw the results," she says.

"I am here because we must act against fascism. If we don't do something now it could be too late, as it was in the last war.

"I don't think Le Pen will succeed in the second round, but we have to do something to try to stop people voting for him."

Standing beside her at the Bastille vigil is 25-year-old medieval history student Ibtissem.

"I am frightened, terrified. This is a nightmare. I am ashamed of the result," she says.

Other protesters take up the anti-fascist cry.

"Le-Pen-Fasc-Ist, Le-Pen-Fasc-Ist," they chant.

May rally

The protesters are gaining strength from the demonstrations in major towns and cities across France.

They predict a huge turnout this Saturday, when people are not at work, before what will almost certainly be the biggest protest - on 1 May, when trades unions, students and members of the public are expected to mass in the centre of Paris.

"I am going to join the protest on 1 May," one young right-wing, white voter in a mixed-race suburb told me.

The young women are quick to insist they are not Communists

"I voted Chirac in the first round, and will obviously vote for him again, but I want to support the demonstrations against racism."

The still-developing protest movement against Mr Le Pen is bringing together unions and groups of a variety of shades and concerns.

Teachers unions and student unions, anti-globalisation campaigners, anti-racist groups, communists, revolutionary communists and unaffiliated right-wing and left-wing voters have found common cause in their opposition to Mr Le Pen.

At the Bastille, most of the protesters decide to move on to Mr Le Pen's National Front headquarters in St Cloud.

Ibtissem and her friends decide to stay where they are.

I voted Chirac in the first round, and will obviously vote for him again, but I want to support the demonstrations against racism

Protester

The poster they are wielding has been printed by the Young Communists' Movement, but the protesters here have torn off the three-inch strip across the bottom which carries the group's logo.

"We are not young communists, and we do not wish to be seen as part of them, but we wanted to use the poster!" one explains.

The demonstrators have not won universal support in Paris, even among those opposed to Mr Le Pen.

No vote

Some residents who witnessed scenes of violence earlier this week say it looked like a state of civil war, and believe the protesters may even be playing into Mr Pen's hands by fanning the flames of unrest.

I have never voted - I am not even registered to vote. But I don't feel guilty. I will still not vote in the second round

Ibtissem

In the long boulevard leading from the Place de la Republique to the Bastille, I count 22 police vehicles, some of them huge beasts of vehicles, with bulldozer-scoops fitted to the front.

It is a sinister sight, incongruous among the strolling tourists.

They are not needed this time, and the officers are milling about, relaxed but self-conscious. Some are clad in riot gear just in case.

Other Paris residents take issue with the concept of protesting against a democratic decision, however distasteful they find the outcome.

"Half of them didn't vote, so they can hardly complain," one resident muttered.

Ibtissem confirms she was among the millions of French women who stayed away from the polls.

"This is not democracy, not with Le Pen involved," she said.

"I have never voted - I am not even registered to vote. But I don't feel guilty. I will still not vote in the second round."

That view is not shared by everyone. Many people who had not registered themselves to vote in the first round have been queuing up to make sure they have a say in the second.

"Imagine if Le Pen were to win and I hadn't even voted - imagine how I would feel then," said one middle-aged man who was lining up with his wife to register.

Other protesters say they did vote, mainly for left-wing candidates.

Like many French people, the protesters have been lulled into believing they could cast their first-round vote in any direction, just to make a point, safe in the knowledge that the real race - Jospin versus Chirac - hadn't started.

"No-one thought this could happen. It's like being married for 30 years and taking it for granted that your husband will never leave you. And then suddenly he goes," one voter told me earlier in the day, tutting at France's complacency ahead of the poll.

Ghosts of the past

Almost everyone now believes that Chirac will sail through the second round, but insist that the street protests must go on.

Imagine if Le Pen were to win and I hadn't even voted - imagine how I would feel then

Man joining electoral register

"Le Pen has toned down the way he speaks - he used to be really fascist - and I think people really are stupid enough to believe that he has changed."

"Even if he only gets 20% in the second round, that would still be dangerous," says the young civil servant.

"Chirac could be tempted to bring some of his policies on board.

As the protesters resume their roadside vigil, they are not the only people at the Bastille.

Members of Paris' Armenian community have gathered at the same spot for an open-air "genocide memorial" concert to mark the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

A crowd of just about every ethnic group in Paris has gathered. Grandfathers and toddlers are there, as a band plays what sounds like a unique mix of reggae, jazz and swing with an Armenian flavour.

The band is providing a musical backdrop to the anti-Le Pen protest. It is also offering a subtle reminder of where hatred between ethnic groups can ultimately lead.

"I think people have forgotten the past, forgotten World War II," says Ibtissem. "Le Pen is no different from Franco, from Hitler. We have to act."