Unity Rally in Paris

This post is not in the correct order with our trip (I will update the blog in the next few days), but for our family that aren't on facebook, here are some photos of the Unity Rally in Paris today, so you know what is going on, straight away.

The unity rally in Paris is quite near our apartment.  We went out briefly to show our support and see what was happening.

1 million people seems conservative as an estimate, as it was shoulder to shoulder for about 600m back from the march proper, in all directions it seems (update on the news, they were saying that the queue to join the rally went back over 3km in some places).  We got about 500m from the rally proper before we turned back.

The mood seems sombre and defiant - with friends meeting up, and lots of friendly and polite interaction, but not a lot of laughter or chatter.  Most people were walking in silence.  Every now and then a wave of clapping would swell from the front and wash past us as we all joined in, although we did not know what was going on, but purely because of the vast numbers of people, not because of a language barrier (for a change).

Some people were carrying Je Suis Charlie signs, and we saw one French flag, and a few home made giant pencils, but most people were just walking along in silence, not carrying anything.

Interestingly in contrast to yesterday, we didn't see any military personnel or police.