WORLDS COLLIDE

 

It was a strange event : a collision between a moment of tribute and the noise of daily life. On one side, the forecourt of Angers town hall and, on the other side, in the street, the concert of horns and sirens. On one side, a deadly silence. On the other side, life which goes on. Are those two worlds irreconcilable?

The ceremony in memory of Samuel Paty, the murdered teacher of history who displayed a Mahomet caricature to his class, was placed under the symbol of resistance, that exact word which designates the boulevard along town hall, as reminded by Christophe Béchu, the Angers mayor.

After the pledge, after the silence, after the national anthem, applauses covered for a while the turmoil of road traffic. They seemed to exorcise fear, to galvanize people against the forgetfulness.