Paris, le 7 janvier 2015. Nous sommes Charlie.

Wednesday 7 January, gunmen shot dead twelve people and wounded several others, some critically so, at the Paris office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in what is now with a good degree of certainty established as a militant Islamist attack. Among the dead are four of the magazine's well-known cartoonists, its editor, as well as two police officers. On Wednesday evening, while thousands took to the streets in France, there were only about forty of us freezing on Notre-Dame market place trying to keep the candles going in the wind but it was a very warm human moment...

'Charlie Hebdo is part of a venerable tradition in French journalism going back to the scandal sheets that denounced Marie-Antoinette in the run-up to the French Revolution'. Hugh Schofield, BBC News, Paris.

Mercredi soir... nous n'étions qu'une quarantaine à faire tenter de brûler les bougies dans le vent glacial mais il y avait beaucoup de chaleur humaine...

And then yesterday evening at the town hall, on a national mourning day that was also the day of another shooting just outside Paris in the aftermath of which a young policewoman died, there was an official gathering with a better turnout.

Et puis, hier soir, journée de deuil national, après une deuxième fusillade à Montrouge, il y eu plus de monde pour le rassemblement républicain à la mairie.

The mayor of Versailles and several other elected officials were present. VDP's pic of the mayor, François de Mazières, is terrible, sorry.

Le maire de Versailles, François de Mazières, était présent aux côtés de plusieurs élus. La photo du maire de VDP n'est pas terrible !

On the steps of the town hall...

 As everywhere else in France, the Tricolor flag is flying at half mast over all official places, in this case the préfecture building that you can read about here. Official cars were parked outside it in the evening for what was in all likelihood a crisis meeting, though there was also an ecumenical meeting. The traditional official new year's wishes ceremony was cancelled yesterday.

Comme partout en France, le drapeau tricolore est en berne sur la préfecture. Il y avait des voitures officielles garées devant le beau bâtiment hier soir sans doute pour une réunion de crise après l'annulation des vœux du préfet des Yvelines, à moins que cela n'ait été pour la réunion œcuménique.

VDP est Charlie. (VDP is Charlie.)