One of the great misconceptions wrt to the sound barrier is that the "bang" only happens as you go supersonic.
It is entirely untrue.
The shockwave is constant once youre through M1.0, so you infact leave a 'foot print' along your whole flight path.
More modern wing designs significant reduce the severity of the shockwave but until a more significant breakthrough occurs, transonic flights will by and large need to remain over the sea!
The shockwave can and has broken windows. I know of an F15 that went supersonic at 1500ft very near a rural township. Lets just say the damage was significant!
During the Concorde developement they actually flew supersonic on several occasions up and down the UK (not sure about France) to see how many noise complaints they would get.
Answer: Lots! (a bit twitchy about big bangs during the Cold War!)
I'll stand by to be corrected but it is my understanding that the Concordes footprint curtailed the proposed routes to the Middle East.