BCN Exclusive: The Atmosphere in Paris Prior to Next Week's Election Run-off is a Bizarre Mixture of Fear and Denial

Teresa Neumann-Opinion : May 1, 2017
Breaking Christian News

Le Pen is so despised in Paris, locals laugh at the suggestion she might win the election. "Non possible!" they say.

EDITOR'S NOTE: BCN's top reporter/journalist, Teresa Neumann, was on location in Paris, and shared a stunning perspective on how similar the political dichotomy in terms of the election in France is to that of the United States. -Aimee Herd, BCN.

(Paris, France)—[BCN Exclusive] Upon realizing I'm an American, the first words out of the mouths of literally every taxi or Uber driver I've encountered in Paris are, "What do you think of Trump?" They ask assuming I loathe him and his policies because, of course, doesn't everyone? (Photo credit: A defaced campaign poster of Le Pen, Macron's poster is left untouched/credit: Teresa Neumann/BCN)

Likewise, Angela Merkel is great, Brexit is horrible, and Marine Le Pen is a dangerous far-right radical. Never mind that she's pro-abortions and gay-marriage. The simple fact that she's "France First" apparently brands her as a Fascist.

Le Pen is so despised in Paris, locals laugh at the suggestion she might win the election. "Non possible!" they say.

My daughter's employers, wealthy Parisians, are adamant on this point. It is inconceivable. When I remind them that this is exactly what the media, political pundits and celebrities said before the US election, they are insistent such a revolutionary outcome to their election could never happen. But SHOULD Le Pen win, I ask?

"We would move," they say.

All sound familiar?

The fact is, there are two Frances, just as there are "two" Americas. Paris—as gloriously beautiful it is—is a bubble of denial in the face of terrorist threats.

Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan? That was yesterday. Even the recent shooting of a police officer which shut down the Champs d'Elyeses the day before I arrived almost seemed a non-event 24 hours later. The famous strip was packed with starstruck shoppers the next day. Except for several armed soldiers patrolling the area (I have never seen this before on previous visits) it was business as usual.

A more telling sign of the changes terrorism has brought to this city is the presence of armed guards at the entrance to every school and the security checks and pat downs at virtually every museum, famous church and government building. Yet the French take this in with their legendary Gallic "Oh, well—such is life" shrug.

Islam couldn't REALLY be to blame for this increase in security. If only all the French, not just Parisian intellectuals and elites, could be as open-minded and as liberal as them, then surely the teeming masses of anti-West immigrants intent on destroying French democracy would turn from their evil ways and turn into croissant-loving French clones.

An incident in the famous Pere Lachaise cemetery yesterday illustrates this French denial/fear approach to reality. Set among the fabulous crypts there was a new gravestone, marking the remains of a young girl massacred at the Bataclan nightclub. (Photo: Armed guards in Paris/credit: Teresa Neumann-BCN)

A little girl, about 8-years-old pointed it out to her mother, tugging at her to stop and read the notes left at the tomb. A fleeting expression of sad horror flashed over the mother's face. Then she firmly pulled her daughter away as though the grave was cursed. "Non, non!"

This couldn't have happened.

Not here in Paris.

Not in the land of liberty, equality and fraternity where man, not God, is supreme.

And Marine Le Pen couldn't possibly win the election.

On May 7, we shall see.

I know one thing: I'm glad I won't be here to see what happens if Macron loses, because Paris today is a bubble ready to burst.