How things have changed

On an overcast and lightly raining, but not altogether unpleasant morning, we decided to head to one of the better, or at least better known, galleries in the world. We crossed the Jardin des Tulleries and the river Seine, and found ourselves caught up in a crowd of excitedly murmuring tourists. With the Musée d'Orsay a short walk away, we assumed the murmuring was about the gallery, about what they would soon see, what they no doubt understood deeply.


But no, it was about something between them and the gallery, something 100m or so away, leaning against the wall of the gallery. Something that warning tape was keeping the hoards of excited tourists 100m away from. In broken French and broken English, we spoke with the police officer manning the tape. While alot of the conversation was not understood by either side, the word 'bomb' was.


A while later, and following much hurried goings on by some kitted out officers, a small device was detonated on top of a motorbike. To the obvious disappointment of the crowd, after the small device detonated, nothing happened.


After specialist officers had inspected the motorbike, the crowd was allowed to pass and the gallery was reopened.


It appears that a motorcyclist, copying the parking strategy often seen in Paris, parked his or her bike against the wall of the gallery. Suspicious about its position, and the large cases strapped to the back, the police services blew off the locks on the cases. With nothing of interest inside, they left a ticket on the bike and went away.


Living in London, one of the most surveilled cities on earth, in the lead up to the olympics, I have had many a moment to wonder about the world we now live in and where it is headed.


30 years ago the bike would have gone unnoticed, 20 years ago been booked and 10 to 15, taken away. Now, it gets blown up. Now, matters of security, take precedence of private property rights and privacy. Now, you are surveilled, scanned, x-rayed, dusted, sniffed and questioned. Now, even your communications are monitored or at least stored.


But don't worry people, if you are not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.


I suppose, to the many who sprout or accept such garbage, it is easy to forget the recent and not so recent past. It is easy to forget the same people who said, "it wont happen to me", have had it happen to them. It seems easy for the many who condemn our governments as incompetent, hopeless or even corrupt, to forget that most security, surveillance and intelligence activities are carried out by people within the very same governments.


Little of note happened in our time in Paris, apart from the visit to the Musée d'Orsay and a great catch up with two dear friends from back home. We walked, ate, drank, walked, explored, looked and walked, and learnt that doing last minute travel related errands when we don't speak the local language is a slow and painful process.


From Paris, and after less than 24 hours in London, we flew up to Bergen in Norway, in whose airport I sit writing this.