Twitter users have been taken aback by a video which went viral, showing people at a French restaurant calmly enjoying their food while fires linked to anti-Macron protests over pension reforms, raged outside.
The video shared on Twitter by @pawelwargan appears to show the restaurant full of diners calmly carrying on while fires burned in the streets outside.
“The French really did the ‘this is fine’ meme,” he captioned the post, referring to a popular online meme depicting a cartoon dog saying "this is fine" as he idly sits in a burning room with a cup of coffee.
Many people have re-shared the tweet believing it perfectly depicts the current situation in France. The country has been engulfed in protests against proposed pension law changes which would increase the retirement age to 64.
The French really did the “this is fine” meme. pic.twitter.com/iIIXFnju2S
— Paweł Wargan (@pawelwargan) March 21, 2023
While many doubted the authenticity of the video, the French publication Libération said the incident did indeed happen, and was bemused to see how it had gone viral. The publication said that the diners went about their business calmly while garbage cans were burning outside. There were firefighters present, which reassured the diners who went on eating like “nothing had happened".
The tweet has received over two million views so far and the video has been shared by many people on Twitter and other social media platforms.
One user sarcastically commented, "The riot fires give a lovely ambience." Another commented, "The term candlelit dinner takes on a new meaning."
Read how some of the other Twitter users reacted below:
To be fair, for the French, this is fine. They are used to much worse. There are no guillotines on the scene yet, so it will all work out just fine. No worries.
— Joop Pauwels (@JoopPauwels) March 21, 2023
Waitress: Can we serve you water on your burning pants and some pepper
— Sebastien Vaval (@sebastien_vaval) March 22, 2023
Customer: Wow, you really know how to create a warm atmosphere with spicy food🤣 pic.twitter.com/7hSBGyZd5q
🤣 this is fantastic
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) March 22, 2023