Eating cake in Paris while the banlieus are burning

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After our weeks in London, we're now back in the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris, and our experience of the last couple of days has been - strange!

Montmartre is as gloriously romantic as always with its quaint alleys and steep staircases, its small hidden squares, and busy sidewalk cafes.

We enjoy it all, but at the same time, living in an apartment in a gated community next to the Abbesses, we feel almost like we were courtiers at the  Versailles in the late 1780ties.

Eating cake, while the horizons are in flames!

We read about the riots in the banlieues, and like the rest of the world, we see shocking TV footage of burning cars, burning buildings, protestors, looters, and attacking police forces.

It all happens just a few kilometers away, but here, in the center of Paris, we experience not one single disturbance. All is tranquil


The journalist in me feels the pull to witness firsthand what is unfolding out there beyond the Paris beltway

Not long ago, I probably would have gone, but now, I believe, I know better.

I have no business walking around Nanterre or  Neuilly-sur-Seine, flashing my press credentials to pass police blockades. Being out there would probably make me into some kind of voyeuristic slumdog tourist.

We turn off the TV. 

It is a beautiful evening in Paris. Instead, we might go out to our local bistro and have a coffee. Perhaps even a couple of macarons!





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