MUST READ! -----Paris is a city afraid

The New Year’s Eve concert on the Champs Élysées has been cancelled for security reasons.  - James Tidmarsh

• The cancellation of New Year’s Eve on the Champs Élysées is confirmation that Paris is no longer is in control of its public space

Over recent years ordinary Parisians quietly stopped going. 

The Champs Élysées on any holiday weekend has become a no-go zone. 

The crowds have changed. 

The atmosphere’s changed.

This year what was once the celebration has been reduced to a simulation. Paris must now film a celebration in advance because it cannot trust itself to manage a real one. The city that staged the Olympics cannot handle a national holiday. Paris, a capital that used to defy threats, can no longer manage its crowds...