re: #244 ryannon

I had the occasion to go out to the northern suburbs of Paris yesterday. I was totally amazed by the good vibes coming from the people I was dealing with. It was multi-cultural (black, white, brown and everything in between) and everyone was getting along just fine: you got the feeling that the majority of these people were perfectly decent individuals with no particular racial or religious ax to grind. The atmosphere was way more pleasant than in Paris, where people are perpetually tense and aggressive. Of course, there are pockets of high-crime out in the ‘burbs, but I’m beginning to sense (as the residents out there have been saying for years) that the media milks it for all its worth and helps to create a vicious circle of self-fulfilling low expectations.

It was a real eye-opener, and I’m humbled by the experience.

Thanks for sharing, ryannon. The impression that people got in the US from the riots a few years ago is that central Paris is wonderful, but going to the Parisian suburbs was more or less like stepping into a war zone.