Just another day in Paris for a Sonoma fisherman

Between soccer hooligans raising hell both at the games and in the local bars, and the unions doing their worst to make the French government of Francoise Hollande look bad, plus cool, wet weather, it was with little regret that we said “Au revoir” to Paris, and headed south for beautiful, sweet and warm Provence.

Before we left, however, I checked out the Seine for fishing possibilities. It was so high, brown and roiled that it was scary. I’ve never seen it so high. Our kids and grandkids took an evening cruise on a Bateau Mouche boat, but the upper observation seats were closed because the boats barely made it under the bridges. Some parts of the usual route were closed because it wasn’t safe for the boats to go under the bridges.

The unions were successful in closing down Versailles for a day, but we did manage to get our entire clan there on one of the open days with the help of the Paris to Versailles tour company. Our guide, Hervé, gave us a real insiders’ look at Louis 14th’s grand chateau and gardens. Hervé’s favorite royal was Marie Antoinette, wife of King Louis XVI, and he gave us his personal view of the queen’s life, who he believes got a bum rap from the royal court and the Paris mobs.

Louis XVI was also the king whom Ben Franklin convinced to support our revolution. Hervé pointed out that the king’s help had more to do with France’s quarrels with England than his admiration for Franklin and American independence.

Unfortunately for Louis and his queen, they both lost their heads a few years later during the French Revolution.

Paris wasn’t quite finished with us as we arrived at Gare de Lyon to catch the TGV high speed train to Avignon. We were all standing in the huge indoor terminal waiting area, when police officers rushed in and began shouting and directing all of us, tens of hundreds waiting passengers, outside to the parking lot. The entire terminal was vacated, presumably to search for a suspected bomb.

It was cold and drizzling outside, but virtually everyone took the incident in stride. Possibly more than a thousand strangers, family and companions all chatted, smiled and waited, showing virtually no signs of fear or stress. After about an hour, we all were allowed back in the train station, then boarded our trains.

Just another day in Paris.

While unseasonably high waters have put my French fishing plans on hold, there is some decent action closer to Sonoma.

Capt. Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sportsfishing continues to find good catches of rock and ling cod for his clients, while anglers in San Francisco Bay are catching halibut and striped bass when the wind isn’t too strong.

Mountain streams are a good bet now, as are most high lakes.

Guide Hogan Brown reports good striper fishing on the Sacramento River near Chico. He is also guiding for trout upstream from there with success.

The upper Sacramento, the McCloud, the Pit and the Fall Rivers are also good bets now.