The plan on Wednesday January 7th was to finish and send out my Secrets of Paris newsletter. In the morning it was so foggy I could barely see the buildings across the street from my window, but I needed to go for a run so I texted Bryan and asked if he was game. We took a selfie for Instagram and he jogged off into the fog. I ended up doing an entire 1. It seemed to be getting colder, and my hands were getting numb.
Happily he made it home okay, too we still have no idea how we missed each other. At pm one of the messenger apps on my phone beeped. By now you all know the rest of the story. So the newsletter was put on hold as I watched the news, called friends, assured family back home I was fine. Yesterday was declared a day of national mourning, with a minute of silence at noon to be observed everywhere, including the Paris metro. Seeing the support and solidarity from around the world has been comforting.
The mood in Paris remains somber; people are saddened by the deaths and want to be respectful of those who were killed and the survivors. But they are also angry, and determined not to let it crush their spirit.
They believe very strongly in the right to free press and the right for people to choose not to read it if they find it offensive. In fact, Charlie Hebdo has never been a wildly popular publication, rarely printing over 30, copies for each issue, even after they were fire bombed by offended extremists in I shrugged in apology to the mother and quickly distracted the daughter by guiding her into the nearest chocolate shop.
Not many people outside France really knew Charlie Hebdo before this. But now these idiot gunmen have made it a worldwide, household name. Next Wednesday they will be printing one million copies of a special edition by the survivors of the staff.
