I was at the club on Wednesday having lunch when the news came through about the shootings at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. It made us all rather quiet and thoughtful, thinking about the families of the victims and wondering what the fall out might be for relations between religious and ethnic groups. So far the response has been respectful of the victims but I wonder how long it will take before right wing groups make capital out of it. The shootings occurred on the day that Michel Houellebecq's book 'Submission' was published. We discussed the book briefly at the French conversation group at the club which was held in the afternoon. It imagines what life in France would be like under Sharia law. Opinion seems to be divided about whether 'Submission' deals honestly and approriately with sensitive issues or is merely provoking right wing sentiments and stirring hatred. I don't know.
I went home by bus after the conversation class and everything seemed calm and normal. Today, despite reports that Paris was 'in lock-down' I went by bus again along the busy rue de Rivoli where the sales are in full swing and met a friend near the Pompidou Centre. We had coffee and then lunch nearby and walking back across the Seine to catch my bus there was no sense of tension. Watching the BBC news this evening it seems that every key BBC reporter is in Paris or northern France. Away from the cameras life carries on as normal, as it must.
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