Wednesday, 17 March 2004
Springtime in Paris
The last couple of days have been beautiful, sunny days. Unusual for Paris at this time of year, the sky is clear and the thermometer hit 20 yesterday and 22 today (68 and 72 in Fahrenheit). Normally it's a choice: you get cloudy skies and warmth, or clear skies and chill.
Needless to say, it's been a treat. The city even smells good, like it was getting ready for some event. (You can hold your snarky comments about stereotypical French bathing habits.)
The air smells warm.
Unfortunately, not everyone is in a good mood. Islamic extremists fired off a letter to the French Prime Minister, threatening terrorist attacks in crowded places. Of course, when it's warm, everywhere gets crowded.
So along with chirping birds, budding flowers, and people out for a stroll, we now have security guards posted at the entrances to Les Halles (an underground shopping center near me) and CRS (national police) patrolling the streets in pairs.
Two things comfort me: One, there is some doubt that the authors of the letter even belong to a real group. Two, France has long had well-established plans in place to deal with this exact type of situation. No alerts named after colors you'd find in your kid's breakfast cereal, no runs on duct tape and plastic to seal your windows. Just pragmatic, practical cautionary steps - like the patrols and simple things like clear plastic bags instead of public garbage cans.
Scary, isn't it, how living with a threat is enough to make us find comfort in a pseudo-police state? Michel Foucault would surely have something interesting to say about it were he around to see this.
Or maybe, for once, he'd just enjoy the warm spring air.