For Postmedia Canada: Signs of change mark Paris in week following terror attacks

Nov. 21, 2015

PARIS—Security in Paris became discernibly tighter this weekend.

Over the course of Friday and Saturday, 1,500 soldiers fanned out across the city, taking up posts at landmarks, shopping centres, airports and metro stations to reinforce the 1,000 guards already deployed following the attacks of Nov. 13 which killed 130 people.

Their presence was felt visibly on Saturday at metro Chatelet, the heart of the Paris subway system, where eight men in army fatigues rode the escalators followed commuters through the underground artery that connects seven metro and commuter train lines.

At the Notre Dame Cathedral, soldiers conducted foot patrols, watching over the mile-long queue of tourists waiting to go inside.

And at Galeries Lafayette, shoppers waited their turn as private security guards peeked into every entrant’s bag and inspected open jackets.

It’s a new reality for Paris. A reality that will make security checks routine, and constantly remind Parisians that their country is at war as soldiers become ever-present for at least the next three months during the declared state of emergency.

Read more at https://torontosun.com/2015/11/21/signs-of-change-mark-paris-in-week-following-terrorist-attacks