PARIS -- Friday’s terror attacks dominated the news agenda in Paris Monday morning. TV screens across the city switched back and forth between details of the manhunt for accomplices to footage of jets departing for “massive” attacks on ISIS in Raqqa while media personalities discussed the issue at length.
On and under the streets of the city, though, life started returning to normality, albeit with a nervous feel to the air.
In the district around Gare de l’Est, there was no discernible hangover from the weekend.
On the Boulevard de Strasbourg, wig shops, chemists and Tabacs were open for business. Police surrounded a homeless man and moved him out of the station while outside a street cleaner blasted posters off a wall with a pressure hose. A group of men stood talking around a water pipe amid thunderous traffic.
The Metro lines beneath the city were teeming with life, but not as busy as usual one local called Cathy told Mashable. People were keen to get back on with things but the events of Friday were still in their minds. It only takes something small, like a momentarily abandoned bag, to cause panic, she said, something that last night’s false alarms demonstrated clearly.
A group of police joined our carriage at Gard du Nord and continued until Champs-Élysées - Clemenceau while an announcement on the speakers reminded passengers of the forthcoming minute’s silence to remember the dead.
At a school outside the centre, security teams were in place – something that's unprecedented there.
In the business district La Défense, meanwhile, security was again heightened. Guards inspected the bags of anyone entering the vast shopping centre, and one officer even stopped us going into M&S Food without a check. Inside, Christmas decorations were up and the place seemed as busy as usual for a Monday morning.
Outside, among the towering office blocks and glass buildings, flags flew at half mast and images of solidarity flashed from advertising screens. Groups of office personnel gathered outside their workplaces, shivering in the wind and puffing on cigarettes.
As 12 struck, a hush descended and everyone came to a halt. Even a man with two shopping carts who was polishing his shoes paused. Finally, the fountains re-started and Paris went back to work. Once they’d got past the security team of course.