I have visited France many times but had not been in Paris since 2001. In May, 2010, I made a return visit to Paris. The changes I saw depressed me. On the ride in from the airport we saw graffiti on many buildings. When the metro ticket seller heard my son and I speaking English he said, “Welcome to the French nightmare.” He wasn’t kidding. Paris is no longer a white city. That may not necessarily be a bad thing but too many of the newcomers, blacks and Arabs, behaved in public in a way I had seen Parisians behave- ever. Boisterous drunks openly drinking on the subways; angry young men spitting at the subway passengers just as the subway car doors were closing. In past years I noted the presence of metro police. There were none to be seen. I can only guess that the police are backing away to avoid confrontations with “minorities.” The way New York City cops did before Giuliani appeared. The many Asians in Paris acted like Asians tend to act. Properly. That was my last visit to a city I loved.
