It looks like Paris is getting quite a bit of unwanted attention lately. Reading the press, both national and international, one gets the impression the French capital is under siege with riots exploding everywhere.
We hear the banshee screams coming from the media pit: ‘the worst civil strife since the 60s’, ‘riots propagating like wildfire’, and other tasteful headlines.
Bah, humbug.
I spent a couple of weeks in Paris in November, when the events unfolded in some of the suburbs.
Being the Senior Editor of a Paris city guide, you can imagine I spent my stay in the French capital riding, walking, visiting and searching for interesting news to report back to our readers.
Well, well, well. There I was, zipping through the traffic day and night on my scooter, looking for some atrocious mob scene, secretly hoping to catch a bunch of ugly rioters burning expensive cars in front of a police precinct! Camera! Light! Action!
After all, the headlines had promised us quite a show. And you know the media always, always, always tell us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help them God.
So I spent my 2-week stay criss-crossing the streets of Paris.
I went everywhere: in the Pigalle red district, to the République Square and the Bastille plaza, over to the posh St Sulpice area, and through the lively St Germain-des-Prés. I plunged into the heart of the 12th district through the dead of the night. I spent time with friends on the Montmartre hill, pigged out at many restaurants, and stayed up till the wee hours of the morning almost every night.
But riots? None.
Nothing happened. Nada. Zilch. Zippo.
Oh yes, sorry, yes. I forgot: a couple of cars were burnt in the 17th district. But alas! The show was over in no time, and the thugs had left the scene before the police and firemen got there.
That, a riot? Wow. I’m unimpressed.
What did I actually see in the last two weeks? Streets busy with shoppers and diners, people strolling about, doing their stuff. Business as usual.
So what about the civil unrest in Paris?
Here is my guess: the media bunch wrote “Paris” when they actually meant “suburbs”.
But mind you, there is a world of difference here!
Contrary to the typical American urban center, European cities have developed outwards, from an inner core protected by a succession of ramparts — a tradition born in the Middle Ages where cities had to defend themselves against invaders.
The inner city is rich and architecturally interesting. Ghettos and ‘projects’ are built outside the city walls, in the suburbs.
Paris is rich, and very well protected. Money can afford protection. And believe me, there is moolah aplenty in Paris.
In terms of police protection, there are probably 50 times more cops in the streets of Paris as in the “red belt suburbs” — the suburbian cities situated North and East of Paris. These traditional strongholds of the Communist Party are the dwelling places of the troublemakers. Miles away from Paris.
Of course, a headline which screams “Paris Under Siege” or “Paris Plunged In Civil Strife” will sound sooooooooo very much more interesting than something like: “Noisy-le-Grand’s Stadium Is Burning”. Who ever heard of Noisy-le-Grand after all?
This is really the case in point, mind you.
You most likely don’t know of Noisy-le-Grand — a small, non-descript city located 15 miles from Paris.
So would you be interested in reading about a dozen troublemakers burning cars and a building in Noisy-le-Grand?
Of course, you wouldn’t. So the headlines would not sell.
Everybody needs to make a buck, and the media is definitely no exception to the rule. Quite the contrary indeed. They want to grab your bucks mighty fast.
So they strive to get your attention with screaming headlines, blurred geographical lines, and heart-pumping pictures of cars burning. This now makes ‘Paris 2005′ look like ‘Los Angeles 1992′.
A dozen of vile thugs wreak havoc in several isolated spots, and the headlines print: “Civil unrest like the French government has not faced in decades”.
Bah, humbug.
So what are the actual facts about Paris and your safety there?
I was there: I can tell you the simple, naked truth.
Paris remains a place as safe as ever, where honest citizens are well defended by a strong, hard-working police force, and where criminals get punished as they deserve.
What about the ‘burbs?
The isolated hotspots are now under the direct control of the army. The few dozens of criminal thugs who succeeded in getting media attention will now be held at bay, and imprisoned when caught.
Had the media reported on the facts without dramatizing them to the extreme, the few guilty thugs would have failed in their attempt at getting attention and disrupting people’s lives. There would have been less trouble overall, and less people worrying unnecessarily.
To be honest with you, I believe newspapers and TV should be tagged with a blackbox label, just as antidepressants are now labelled: “WARNING: The daily consumption of news media increases the risk of suicidal thinking.”
The last couple of weeks were rich in emotions and sensations. I had plenty of time to feel the Parisian pulse. The weather was still OK, a bit rainy sometimes, but mostly sunny and not cold. I saw lots of Asian tourists, and heard numerous conversations in English. Shops and cafés were crowded. The city parks were well-frequented. Angelina’s Tea Salon on Rue de Rivoli was as busy as ever.
That, a city under siege?
Excuse me for a second. I need to laugh.