Bastille Day -2016- [8K — HD]

Finally, near the Palais de la Méditerranée, a small group of officers caught up. They fired through the windshield. The truck lurched, slowed, and stopped. The driver was killed in the exchange. But the silence that followed was more terrible than the noise. It was the silence of a city holding its breath, of a seaside promenade turned into a slaughterhouse.

The evening of July 14, 2016, began with the specific, shimmering generosity of the French Riviera. The sun, a soft orange coin, was melting into the Mediterranean, leaving the sky streaked with lavender and gold. Nice, the city of angels, was dressed in its holiday best. Tricolores hung from every balcony, fluttering in the warm sea breeze. On the Promenade des Anglais, the air tasted of salt, grilled merguez, and the sweet, powdery sugar of chichis —the local doughnuts eaten by the ton on Bastille Day. Bastille Day -2016-

We do not forget.

And on the railings, tied to lampposts, pinned to the plane trees, flowers began to appear. Not official wreaths, but single roses, wilting tulips, sunflowers. And candles, thousands of them, their flames trembling in the morning breeze. Beside them, handwritten notes in childish script: “Pourquoi?” and “On n’oublie pas.” Finally, near the Palais de la Méditerranée, a