Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, has accused anyone lamenting the dilapidated state of the city of being on the far right, or as her colleague the Socialist Party leader recently put it, “obsessive fascists”. Paris must be swarming with vile extremists then, because Parisians are furious at the state of their beloved city, once considered to be one of the most beautiful on earth.
The cruel irony is that filth, demolition of historical buildings, neglect, ecological disasters and a cult of hideousness have been especially visible since Hidalgo, at the helm of the city for the past 20 years (as deputy and then mayor), entered an opportunistic partnership with the Greens.
Little did Parisians realise that by voting for this alliance they would see
