I have recently returned from a 24 day trip to France.  A trip that I had been planning for over a year.  The Australian Government was already recommending travellers to exercise a high degree of caution due to high threat of terrorist attacks before I paid for our flights, but we decided to go anyway, and to be mindful of our surroundings.  Then in November 2018, we started seeing news of the protests in France by the Gilets Jaunes.  While unsettling, I was hoping that the situation would have resolved itself by the time we made our appearance in January-February 2019.  As the day of our departure grew closer, it was becoming evident that the demonstrations would be likely to continue throughout our time in France.