state of

the state of emergency declared in france back in november should be lifted tomorrow...six weeks ahead of schedule. good. on sunday morning i walked up to Sacré Coeur listening to the bells ringing for the new year. flashes of blue sky inspersed with silvery rain, typical january view of all of Paris. people from everywhere on the steps...coming home from new year parties (a guy holding a silver wig under his arm), or going to work in the neighbourhood (sketchbook artists, postcard sellers, croissant vendors), or coming to church at the basilica, or taking pictures of each other and laughing in twenty different languages. it didn't look much like a state of emergency. but maybe it is...for the environment, for freedom of the press, for civil rights... so now that the state of emergency is being lifted, perhaps we can institute a state of awareness, for 2006. bonne année!