Near the old village of Gennevilliers, you have these immense "barre" buildings, that had become a nightmare for the french imaginaire collectif and that's also one of the reasons why Nicolas Sarkozy won the presidency. Security first! The angry kids from the suburbs built a highway for the President's limousine... Here in Gennevilliers, once the home of Edouard Manet, there is a "quartier" called le Luth, where 10 000 souls live. Serious drug problems here, but the inhabitants react collectively against the fléau, which is great. Not exactly "against": they try to help the people who are on drugs, meeting their families. A salvation army without an army: listening, talking, doing. I hope that things are going better. And the ligne 13 of the metro will be extended soon, so the cité won't be enclaved anymore.

If you visit the old downtown Gennevilliers, it feels like eternal. Old church, old streets, old square, small houses. But the eternal seems a little bit scared: almost noone could be seen outside when I was there, near the very old church. There are 2 popular bars on this square and I chose one of them for a drink. There is this drunk man at the comptoir, his cheek is barred with a long scar, he's shouting at the bar tender, almost agressively: "I have no friends. Can you imagine, I'm almost 50 and I have no friends; no friend at all. I have no friend I can call tonight and ask: what do you do tonight? Look, it's impossible today to make a friend." I drink my Schweppes as fast as I can and leave. Sure, this man would have asked me "do you have friends?"; and what would I have answered to this serious drunk question?