Paris was built to meet the needs of a police state. Floral tributes to the city’s dead tell a very partial history

In the first round of the French regional elections on 6 December, the far-right Front National (FN) won the national vote and more than doubled its vote share from the same election five years ago, to 28 per cent across the 13 Continental regions. The result is further evidence of the strengthening appeal of the populist, anti-immigration right in France and beyond.