Foreword: Sorry this took me almost two months to post. This trip turned into a mere foreshadowing of the months that have followed. As I make my final edits, sitting here in a hotel in Rio de Janero, I realize again that I am spend too much of my free time winding-down from craziness, when I should be documenting it all. Anyway, thanks for your patience. Maybe I'll tell you about Brazil in two months...
Surprise! I went to Paris. I have never been to France before, and I don't speak French. It wasn't even high on my personal list of "places I want to go", so no one was more more surprised than yours truly. At the end of it all, I truly enjoyed the trip and learned a lot. Most pointedly: everything I had heard about Paris was wrong.
Before I was told to pack my bag, I followed the Charlie Hebdo story with great concern, both as a journalist and because I've grown up with a political cartoonist named "Fitz", as a dear, family friend. But being a European, terrorism story, I never expected to be sent there. The decision came before the hostage situation ended, and even after the three, alleged terrorists were killed, I was still off to the City of Lights.
The Flight
I flew Air France, who upgraded me to "economy plus". On a U.S. domestic flight, we know that means getting a normal seat with the amount of legroom you would have gotten anyway 10 years ago, but this was legitimately halfway between economy and business class!
Navigating the dodgy people offering taxis in the Charles de Gaulle airport, we found the proper exit to the taxi line. Now, I know I said I don't speak French, but I have Francophone friends and have gleaned enough from them to ask the taxi driver "Parlez-vous anglais?". Getting the first of many "No"s to that question, I quickly switched to attempting to pronounce the address of our colleagues' hotel and showing our smartly mustached, taxi driver the Google map location on my smartphone, and we were off.
Sadly, no French Connection moments
Arriving at the hotel, it was still pre-dawn. The hotel was more like a hostel, and our colleagues were getting what precious little sleep they could, so we walked through the Place de la Republique, for my first, authentic croissant. Forgive the low-quality selfie, but please take the time to appreciate those baguettes in the background! We felt so French!
It took my jet-lagged brain some time to realize this is called the "Statue Liberte"! The statue became a focal point for people to mourn the Charlie Hebdo victims, as well as the official starting point for the historic march on Sunday. All around the base were messages, candles, pens, and pencils. Most of the bricks each said "Je Suis Charlie", in various handwritings.
The morning I got there, I met up with our London-based colleagues and coordinated a live broadcast from the park (pictured above). Then we were off to film the apartments and interview neighbors of the alleged terrorists.
If you follow my Instagram, you know I love flowers.
It's strange how someone living in this quiet, beautiful
place could plan something so violent.
Filming where the younger Kouachi brother lived.
From the first apartment in Gennevilliers, we went to a nearby mosque, where Mr. Kouachi and his family visited infrequently. They kindly invited us inside, where it was very peaceful and beautiful. Everyone there was incredibly patient and generous with their time, as well. This man, who works at the mosque, gave us thoughtful comments, and told us he would participate in the march the next day, so we decided to follow him for that.
After that, it was off to Fontenay-aux-Roses Where Coulibary lived with his girlfriend Boumeddiene, who is still on the run at the time of this writing. Once again, it struck me just how peaceful a neighborhood and friendly the people there were.
At this nearby park, Coulibary allegedly killed a jogger before taking the Hyper Cache kosher market hostage. Still not clear why.
Here we got right up to the front door,
sealed off by police, of course.
Finally checking into our hotel that night, I booked a hotel room with a view of the Place, in case we needed to film from inside the hotel. You can see how many news trucks were there, but those pictured above accounted for less than half of them parked around the whole square.
But before we could get any actual sleep, we needed to have a working dinner with the other crews and coordinate our coverage of the march, which turned into a gathering of heads of state, and millions of participants!
Food
I know this subject matter is dark and heavy, so let's take a break and appreciate one of the better aspects of my trip! I didn't eat one thing in France that wasn't delicious, although I will say, I wasn't particularly impressed by the wine. It was good, sure, but my expectation of French wine was much higher, and French, domestic wine was not noticeably, less expensive than buying it in the states. (By contrast, Argentinean wine tasted incredible and cost next-to-nothing!)
Legit Pho
Go here. Get this ==>
I went with a table wine. It was not remarkable.
The spread. Flambe, raw shellfish, salads - everything was great!
My steak frites was also great, and I somehow managed to finish it!
Of course we had Japanese, too.
I went with Curry Udon and kara-age.
Did I eat escargot? You bet your sweet ass I did!
This was my last meal in Paris before I flew home. I wish I knew the name of this nearly-raw chicken served in a perfectly balanced sauce!
The Day of the March
We woke up early before the march and walked to the offices of Charlie Hebdo. Obviously the police investigation kept us from getting less than a block away, so we filmed the tributes that had been left by those around the police barricade. France flies noticeably fewer flags than America, but the ones we did see were at half-mast.
Keep in mind, this was just 6 days after the initial attack.
We returned to Gennevilliers where participants in the March met at their city hall to go together.
The metro was free that day, in order to make it easier for those people to attend the unity march.
This doesn't properly express how crowded it was!
Even the open streets leading up to the starting point of the march were standing-room-only!
I've never seen so many people in one place. We stopped here to interview the mosque-members before the sun set too far.
For most, the "starting point" became the end of their march-to-the-march. Many people climbed the Statue Liberty.
That would get you arrested in NYC for sure. Here we see the French police reaction. I felt pride in their respect of people caught up in the moment.
Add caption
It didn't end when the sun went down either. People lit flares (who knows how they got green flares in the first place?!), and drank and continued to decorate the statue with memorials and messages of freedom and defiance of terrorism.
Group photo of the TBS crews I worked with. The woman and the man in glasses actually live in Paris, and speak fluent French!
Sightseeing
The morning of our flight home we planned for about four hours of sightseeing, but we got a call from Tokyo asking us for o---ne more story, so after cranking that out in time for the 11pm news in Japan, we had less than two hours before we needed to get to the airport! Here's some of what we had time to see *other* than what we whizzed by in taxis:
This is not a selfie, just fyi.
OH! Champs-Élysées! A seriously pedestrian-friendly street!
Arc de Triomphe and crazy round-about
In its native habitat...
The flight attendants going home kept using French for me, even after I spoke to them in English! Maybe it was the bow tie?
The Capstone
The day after coming home, it would have been nice to catch up on sleep, BUT North Korea decided to hold a press conference!
Happy New Year! 2015... wow. Last year, I wrote about my resolutions for 2014. Perhaps I'm guilty of a selective memory, but I did pretty well! Once again, I did not break 200 at bowling, but I did manage to go to three new countries: Canada - not just once, but three times(!), Belgium, and The Netherlands (Amsterdam).
My biggest failing, as usual, was keeping up with this blog.
Looking back at that old blog post stirs mixed emotions of accomplishment with last year's angst. I spent 2014 "going out", which, fittingly, symbolizes the all-too-common external search for happiness. I went home to Tucson for my little brother's big UofA graduation, I went to Europe, I went snowboarding in Vermont at the end of last winter, started this winter break with a trip to the Smithsonian museums in D.C., and I went on a lot of dates - mostly first-dates that did not pan out, but dates none-the-less. I will spare us both the details.
The point being, while I had lots of fun, it has only been in the last couple months I have really started looking inward and finding happiness that doesn't come from a place of yearning.
With that in mind, I want to make 2015 the year of "staying in". As reclusive as that might sound, I actually want to do more at home and invite others to join in that, and a big part of this plan revolves around the kitchen.
Through some interesting coincidences, I ended 2014 with a sudden interest in de-boning whole chickens. That's right. I did not misspeak:
materials!
My first attempt was successful, but not pretty!
I still cannot stop watching this video. From the French accent to the beauty and ease with which the chef cleans out this bird, I wanted to practice it. I have now completed this twice. Once, using my first deboned chicken to make a Filipino Christmas bird, called Rellenong Manok.
Today, I finished a second, stuffed ballotine with my own spinach and mushroom-based creation.
I also took my father's stern advice and used the carcass to make a delicious stock, mixing in the innards with some pasta, thereby also making chicken noodle soup from scratch - another personal first, which was not only easy, but turned out great!
My interest in the kitchen hasn't stopped at food either. I managed, barely, to complete another 2014 resolution by brewing my first 5-gallon batch of beer on New Year's Eve. Literally finishing in time to run to the bar for countdown to 2015, but a great and memorable way to end the year!
My favorite kind of hops
The Mash (in my huge pot)
Fermenting away.
SO! What are my resolutions this year? More house/dinner parties, less bars. Go to yoga twice a week (eventually). Become a morning person (also eventually). Keep brewing, blogging, and bow-tie-wearing. Read more books, write more, and act in something on some level (I have creative friends who make videos, so hopefully they will help me with this).
Adding large quantities of maple syrup to my Chocolate Maple Porter beer!
I'm going to do something I've never done before on my humble, embarrassingly casual blog, and introduce an unintentional-guest writer.
As you may know, I am covering the United Nations General Assembly currently, and my friend, formerly a fellow television news producer in our D.C. bureau, shared his thoughts after hearing President Obama's speech this morning. The content was insightful, not to mention well-written, I just had to share it with you.
And so, as editor and photographer only, I give you:
Not the best photo thanks to the odd lighting above them, but I took this just before the President's speech. - 9/24/2014
Obama started speaking at 10:13 AM and finished at 10:52 AM,
making his speech 39 minutes long. I may have been the only one able to watch it
all, so I give my impressions.
It was not a speech full of concrete details and proposals.
As expected, Obama addressed three topics: Russia, Ebola, and the terrorist
threat in Syria and Iraq. His message on these topics was not so surprising. I
would sum them up as: we must stop all of them.
What did surprise me was a pessimistic tone throughout his
speech. He spoke about the "failure of the international system." He used the
words "undertow of instability." "Swamp." "Outbreak." At multiple points, he
seemed frustrated -- scolding and lecturing other countries, particularly in the
Middle East, and attempting to speak directly to youth
populations.
To me, this was not "hope and change" Obama. This was "we
hope YOU change" Obama.
Obama was subdued on the Asia/Pacific. He did not mention
China by name when "insisting" that all nations resolve territorial disputes
peacefully, consistent with international law. I suspect America feels too
stretched at the moment to move much in the Asia/Pacific.
The same is true of Iran, which Obama treated fairly kindly.
He called it, merely, the "Iranian nuclear issue." Not crisis. Not pursuit of
nuclear weapons. Clearly, he feels he needs their help on
ISIS.
On ISIS, he pledged to degrade and dismantle their network
and called them a lot of bad names -- "network of death" was the best one. But
he also called on governments in the region, and Islamic religious leaders, to
disavow violent interpretations of Islam and using armed proxies to solve
conflicts.
On a side note, he went off script on Israel briefly. He
noted that "it's something for Israelis to consider" that many Israelis have
given up the pursuit of peace.
In very direct language, Obama accused Russia of eroding
world and UN values.
I would have to ask Elliot whether this is
his normal language now. I was very surprised by it!! Things have changed so much
in two years between the US and Russia: Obama and Medvedev used to eat
hamburgers together in DC!
Lastly, it was interesting that Obama felt the need to
mention events in Ferguson, MO. Perhaps this has undermined US standing more
than I thought.
Next, I'd like to share with you my colleague and current D.C. news producer's reaction for further insight and context. Without any further delay, please read on!:
Elliot Waldman
Japanese Television News Producer, Washington D.C.
@waldmane
Good thoughts Graham,
thanks! I interpreted Obama’s strongly negative language as reflective of the
administration’s desire to project a clear-eyed understanding of danger. One of
the most persistent criticisms that has dogged Obama’s foreign policy pretty
much since day one has been the perception of inaction. No doubt, part of this
is due to the fact that his predecessor was so active in combating real and
perceived/inflated threats with big flashy military interventions. Obama can’t
help but seem timid in comparison, and his opponents take full advantage of this
by incessantly beating their war drums to the delight of the media. Plus, his
manner and style are that of a calm and collected professor, which lends
credence to the criticism that he doesn’t take seriously Putin’s neo-imperial
machinations or the full extent of Islamic extremism.
Now, at a critical time
when Obama is seeking a mandate from the international community as well as his
domestic constituents for another multi-year military effort in the Middle East,
the last thing he wants to do is project an air of sanguinity (sic). Last year, dogged
by the NSA scandal, Obama was on defense, trying to play the role of conciliator
while trying to make the case that the US still has a strong and constructive
role to play in the world. (Remember how much play Rousseff got for her
blistering attack on mass surveillance? Compare that with this year.) Now he’s
in full offense mode, essentially telling the world that it’s put up or shut up
time.
On a different note, I
was also surprised by the relatively long section on Ferguson. Perhaps other
countries’ accusations of hypocrisy over that incident stung more than we
imagined?
I want to talk to you about two aspects of the news in Ferguson, Missouri.
The first part deals with the nuts-and-bolts of foreign news coverage of the event and the challenges therein:
People have a very a-la-carte opinion of "the media".
While covering the rally marking one-month-in to the Occupy Wall Street Movement at Foley Square, live no less, an angry protester shot a dirty glance at my team, shouting "Where were you a month ago?" I started covering the Occupy Wall Street movement from Week Two, keep in mind my target audience is Japan, and I feel my network, TBS, was one of - if not the first in Japan to report it as international news. I can't remember now whether I bothered to set the person straight, but in the grand scale of things, I doubt it would have mattered.
Fast forward 3 years.
From the moment it became national news, I kept a close watch on the reaction to the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri . My office debated daily whether it was "time to go".
Similar to OWS, after about one week, the first night of a city-imposed curfew in Ferguson turned violent, and I was on a plane the next morning.
Seated behind me on the plane were two colleagues from another Japanese television network, Fuji. This confirmed our own sense of timing, and we found out later, our two networks were the first to deem the situation as needing the on-scene presence of a reporter to accurately report the situation to the Japanese viewing public.
In the days that followed, the other networks hurried out, playing catch-up, and covering oddly minute aspects of he movement, so as not to appear lacking in their coverage. I have learned this is part of the nature of "being second", in television news.
Interestingly, despite all of the Japanese media covering many different events and perspectives, I noticed, all networks avoided explaining the phrase "Hands up, Don't shoot" - a mantra and rallying call throughout the city of Ferguson. Although we and a few others mentioned "Don't Shoot", I believe no one wanted to attempt translating "Hands up". Surely putting your hands up is understood world-wide as a symbol of surrender, but the phrase in this context stumped everyone. Were the protesters using "Hands up!" as a command, or describing Michael Brown's reportedly final act? Do the words serve as a patronizing reminder to police, or some combination of the three? I find it fascinating, and an argument that most people never contemplate, simply because we assume collectively these four, simple words are mutually understood. Are they really?
Regardless, "the media" faces many challenges "the public" never bother to consider. Show up late, and "where was the media while..." becomes the new headline. Show up immediately, and face ridicule for "ambulance chasing" or not respecting the privacy of a people in mourning.
Meanwhile the rest of the nation, or world, screams for more info, and want to hear comments from victims and their friends and family. The ambulance-chasing, victim-interviewing ridicule is two-fold, by the way. Some members of the community my shout it, but the hardest part is hearing it from the voice in your own head. I have interviewed and spoke with parents of Sandy Hook children on the day of the shooting, and Boston Marathon amputees. I hate tracking them down, and asking for their time and comments, and I hate that I have to, but when they do agree to speak on camera, I hope it benefits the world and the story. I am not thinking about ratings or advertising.
Second is my whole take on what I experienced by being there:
My crew assembled that Sunday just in time to make it to the Greater Grace Church, where a rally was being held. The guests in attendance ranged from prominent local religious figures, to Jesse Jackson and Keke Palmer, Broadway's first, black actress to play Cinderella. The speakers included Martin Luther King III, the lawyer of Michael Brown's parents, who also attended, but were understandably silent, and the main speaker, Rev. Al Sharpton.
Sharpton explained that he was contacted by Michael Brown's grandfather and asked to give a voice to their family's injustice. He made no excuses about exploiting the tragedy to promote larger matters of concern, such as civil rights, and political neglect of black neighborhoods. He even went as far as saying "Where are Jeb Bush and Hilary Clinton? If they want to go to the White House, first they've gotta come to our house!" asking why future presidential hopefuls weren't weighing in on the incident. Overall, I felt he was still respectful of the family and their loss, but it was a uncomfortable balancing act of respect-paying and stirring the crowd to rally, and he was clearly practiced and comfortable, which did not sit right with me.
For the rest of the day, we went to the site of the shooting, we had to park at a nearby drugstore that had one glass door boarded up after it was broken in the first riot, and walk down the main street, because the police had closed it to traffic. There was a steady parade of protesters coming and going passed boarded up businesses with "OPEN" spray-painted on particle board.
The closed road meant that people often walked in the street, although cars of those who live in the neighborhood were still allowed in and out.The atmosphere was that of a bloc party, but without any plan or events, people who wanted to show their support by showing up, ended up inventing ways to pass the time while they were there. People were barbecuing in the street and in the parking lot of the gas station that was burned down in the riot. We were offered hot dogs and bottled water by one man. The occasional car rolled by honking their horn, blasting hip hop, sometime people hung out of open car doors and windows, or stood in truck beds or through an open sun roof.people would spontaneously begin chanting "Hands up, Don't shoot", or "No justice, No peace" - I heard one man on CNN later saying the phrase is actually "know justice, know peace", but I did not get the sense that the people saying it that day knew that either. There was a line of state police, mostly white, present, but they stood and watched the circus silently.
The place where Michael was shot had two small memorials and the stream of people who came were mostly calm & quiet.
Police having a bit of a stand-off with local residents as they searched the area.
After filming our report, we went back to our hotel to edit and file. We planned to return to the area an hour before the curfew started to film if any riots happened. I had just started eating my chicken salad and transcribing soundbites when we heard from AP that the rioting had already begun. It was only around 9:30pm, but we jumped in the van and tried to get back. By the time we got there the perimeter was sealed off by police who were very on edge. they held shotguns and barked orders, and even after getting permission to enter, they would not let us get an inch closer until they confirmed it themselves on their radio. We went through this three times, so by the time we actually got in, most of the protesters were gone and the police were searching houses for someone who had fired a gun.
The streets did look like a war zone though. The police had cleared a path through a pile of bricks protesters had dumped on the street to try to block their military-style vehicles. Tear gas canisters and litter were strewn about as well. I was prepared to taste my first dose of tear-gas, but instead all I smelled were some drunk people peeing near where we parked.
We stayed in the parking lot of the nearby Target, until 1am - the only place press was allowed after the curfew, and finished sending our footage to Tokyo, before heading back to the hotel.
The next morning we returned for one more look and shockingly, it was a very different scene. Perhaps it being Monday played the biggest role, but the street was no longer closed, and as a main road, the traffic seemed to clear out most of the protesters and unruly behavior. Garbage trucks inched up and down the streets, which even by 9am were completely free of bricks, trash, or other traces of the preceding night. CNN had moved into the same gas station which was now free of BBQ grills, low-riders, and most of the protesters who crowded it the day before. Jesse Jackson stood at the site of the shooting, talking to a small group of people.
While the issue continues, we had covered it to the extent we felt Japanese people needed to know. Our report was four minutes long, which I'll tell you is relatively long for a news piece, and I was very satisfied with our final piece, but more importantly, I'm glad we went, and even happier that I got to be there on the ground and form my own opinion. I don't have a link to share with you because it timed-out, but if you see this soon, you can watch our follow-up story on Body Cameras I just filmed in New Jersey below:
Moving is never easy, but this time it was definitely worth it!
Poor Samus, had to go to the vet for her rabies shot, now this?!
About half of my worldly possessions
Lemme take a #SELFIE...
I love the chaotic potential of a new room.
Starting to take shape. Samus was happy to have her rug and "Fortress of Cat-itude".
Wide-shot with the massage chair and wine rack
Here's the view of Manhattan and the Triboro Bridge from my new rooftop!
I have roommates now, and although I found them on Craigslist, we realized fairly quickly that we shared mutual friends! By meeting up with them and "closing the gap" I also met the other people who fall into the same category. So, in essence, my new apartment actually came with new friends!
In addition to my roommates, Samus got a roomie too!
This is Luna! She doesn't like Samus so much.
Even though the kitties aren't best buddies even two months in, I still have my hopes for them! Luna is sweet to me though, and she doesn't meow so much as squeek. Cute!
New friends helping to break in my beer pong table in our spare room.
As I just mentioned, I have been here for two months now, and despite lots of business and personal travel during those first two months, my roommates have been amazing! They look after Samus while I'm gone and threw me a welcome party when I came back from my first trip to Toronto! They really made me feel at home and like a member of the family. I even met both sets of their parents... so I guess you can say things are getting pretty serious! Haha.
(For my family, that's a reference to the comedy, Napoleon Dynamite)
Fresh from Canadia and enjoying the party!
My roommate Pete, messing with my new-friend-Gio
My roommates are so awesome, they even surprised me with a cupcake and sang happy birthday to me at midnight!
So this is the spare room. If you ever get an invite to stay over, that sofa is a fold out and there's a mini-fridge of beer behind the door!!
Here's another selfie from last Sunday. I threw a USA World Cup match viewing party.
Well... I done did it now. I went and made my own report. Start to finish. And by finish I mean, "presenting
my story live on national, network television in Japan". As you can see, it aried 5:25 in the morning, but after that it also aired on our cable, news channel numerous times throughout the day! I did everything myself, as much as any story can be, but I sitll couldn't have done this without the help and support of my colleagues. The story is about how popular beards are in America/New York, and what effects that has created.
You can see it here, in Japanese of course, so here is my translation. with one note added about how insanely nervous I was under my beard!
Yagi-san: It's time for "Catch the World" from our JNN foreign bureaus. Today is Greg in New York. Greg?
Me: Good morning! I want to tell you about a popular fashion trend here in America. Any idea what that might
be? It's this: (rubs beard)
Yagi-san: Do you mean your
beard?
Me: That’s right. Recently, you see more people with beards. I went to Brooklyn where beards are especially popular, and as you can see, it's a wash of guys with beards, more than half! This started with a prostate cancer awareness campaign (Mo-vember), where you don't shave for a month. Popular actors, sports stars and more started growing beards, and having a beard came to be thought of as manly.
Yagi-san, what do you think of guys with beards?
Yagi-san: Well, I wouldn't mind if they took care of it and it suits them.
Me: Indeed! I also asked the women here what they though:
Girlfriend
And
what do you prefer?
GF: Beard. All the way. It’s pretty hot
(Boyfriend says “YES!”)
GF w/dog
It’s just, he looks much younger.
He’s still a cutey, but yeah… I like it like this.
Husband and wife
He looks good with it! I think it
goes with the hair and has kind of a Richard Gere look to it, a little bit, so
that’s fine.
Me: So it seems beards are popular in women's opinion as well.
(At this point, I completely blanked on what came next. I really didn't want to look at my script while on camera, and once I did, I realized, I didn't even know where on the paper to look! You might notice I kind of laughed at myself on camera, but I found my place and carried on.)
However, there are some men who can't grow proper beards, right? In fact, there is a surprising surgery that has grown in popularity
This is Jose, 27 years old. Jose can only grow a little
facial hair, so he has come to a plastic surgery clinic for a procedure:
Jose
The more you think about it, the more you notice it, the more
you look at yourself in the mirror and compare yourself to other people and, yeah, complain about it.
Me: This plastic surgeon is well known for facial hair implants, and demand for his procedures has been growing. 5 years ago, he was doing 4 or 5 a month, but now that number has grown to around 15 times a month!
Yagi-san: I'm not really clear on how the beard is actually implanted?
Me: With the doctor and Jose's permission, I went inside the operating room:
"This is the operating room, where a beard implant procedure is starting"
First, laying on his stomach, hair is taken from the back of the head, down to the root. Next, they numb Jose’s face and the doctor chooses where to
place the hairs.
The doctor makes tiny incisions, and the recently removed hairs are inserted one-by-one. This time Jose
received 765 hair transplants and took around 6 hours total. The doctor said back of the head and face heals up after about 3 days and the roots remain in the face. After
about 9 months the hair begins growing like a normal beard. Jose said he couldn’t smile because of
the anesthesia, but he was very happy.
Yagi-san: Wow,
they say fashion requires patience, but that looked painful, and it takes 9 months? It really shows you how popular beards have
become.
Me: Yes. Here in New York where there's a beard-boom, you can also find places open like this: This is a "beard spa". The shave beards, style them, and you can even get skin treatments for your face.
John Rivera, barber: It’s cool. It’s the trend right now, what’s “in” right now,
is to have a beard that’s kept really nice.
Me: How's it feel?
Miguel: It feels good, actually. Like a million bucks! Haha.
This is the first time beards have become popular again since
the 70s, and for now the
trend shows no sign of going away. That’s all from me, in New
York.
I went to Paris. I have never been to France before, and I don't speak French. It wasn't even high on my personal list of "places I want to go", so no one was more more surprised than yours truly. At the end of it all, I truly enjoyed the trip and learned a lot. Most pointedly: everything I had heard about Paris was wrong.
It took my jet-lagged brain some time to realize this is called the "Statue Liberte"! The statue became a focal point for people to mourn the Charlie Hebdo victims, as well as the official starting point for the historic march on Sunday. All around the base were messages, candles, pens, and pencils. Most of the bricks each said "Je Suis Charlie", in various handwritings.
From the first apartment in Gennevilliers, we went to a nearby mosque, where Mr. Kouachi and his family visited infrequently. They kindly invited us inside, where it was very peaceful and beautiful. Everyone there was incredibly patient and generous with their time, as well. This man, who works at the mosque, gave us thoughtful comments, and told us he would participate in the march the next day, so we decided to follow him for that.
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