'Chaos as mobsters looted shops' - Joy Reid reflects on violent scenes in Paris as France's World Cup celebrations turn ugly

The French are a resilient bunch.

Within hours the Parisian streets that had been littered with broken glass and tear gas canisters were clean, and filled with people on their morning commute while authorities prepared for round two of World Cup celebrations.

The way Paris bounces back is truly remarkable.

Hats off to the hundreds of street cleaners and business owners who cleaned up the mess in record time after a few hundred mobsters ruined the festivities for the majority of the peace loving football fans.

I would never have believed the transformation but rioting idiots (if I may call them that) were not going to stop France from celebrating their winning team's homecoming today.

It's hard to forget the scenes I witnessed from a balcony above the Champs Elysee yesterday.

It started off so joyful but turned into chaos as mobsters looted shops and pelted riot police with bottles, set fires, even after being sprayed with tear gas and water cannons.

It appeared lawless to me, but the riot police eventually dispersed the crowds.

I watched on in disbelief with other local media outlets… who just shrugged and said "This is French – we are a revolutionary people".

An excuse lost on this Kiwi who was outraged on their behalf.

But the bounce back was phenomenal.

Hours later, as the glass was being cleared, Police were setting up barriers for the Victory Parade and locals kept coming up to me telling me how sad it was that the minority had ruined a happy occasion for so many.

"It's the young" they said. "They should pay for this" one woman told me.

The French are a resilient bunch - French flags were flying again, and hardened fans were taking their spot on the parade route hours before the team's arrival but on the very same spot which had been the scene of so much violence the night before – they weren't going to miss a chance to see their football stars because of the risk of more rioting.

But it was a risk.

I asked many if they thought there'd be more chaos tonight and they all told me "maybe" or "probably" with resigned conviction – but they weren't staying away because of it.

It seems hard to fathom why a people that had just WON, not lost, the World Cup final would turn so brutal.

Again, I'm told "street fighting is in the French DNA".

I've received countless tweets blaming various ethnicities for the violence - there are a lot of very strong opinions out there.

I cannot tell you whether a particular ethnic group was over represented as in the dark and from the roof, the only thing I could tell you with confidence is that the troublemakers were mainly young men and many were drunk.

But this country deserves to celebrate its first World Cup victory in 20 years… and so they are.

The football stars are travelling up the Champs Elysee, before being taken to the Palace to be wined and dined by the President.

The French embracing their heroes with a passion only the French could exude.

It remains to be seen though what will happen tonight. Will it be round two of mayhem, or will the troublemakers be kept at bay?

For everyone's sake, I hope it's the latter.