The small city of St. Etienne, France, is home to some 160,000 people, many of whom are immigrants from the Maghreb. It is located about one hour drive southwest of the city of Lyon, on the E-47 Highway. St. Etienne is a rather quiet town whose outskirts and nearby communities are populated by small factories and residential areas.

One rather curious aspect of St. Etienne is the unusual number of people of the Anarchist and Communist persuasion I have encountered here. Yet, in spite of whatever the differences between their ideologies and mine may be (I'm not an ideologue), we often manage to enjoy a nice Côtes du Rhône with some Brie Cheese together.

The couple that appears with me on photo No. 20 are my neighbors Delphine and Ludovic. The people in photos Nos. 01 & 02 are some of their friends.

I haven't had the chance to venture far from the city yet, but as soon as I do I'll post some photos of it all here.

To view larger versions of the photos just click on any of them and keep clicking "next".