Once a centre of industry as well as a affluent port,the city is now synonymous with the distress of migrants, and its residents are not enjoying their notorietyThe Hotel Meurice in Calais is rather decrepit these days but, and with its reasonable rates,it has long appealed to English tourists. The problem is that English tourists – as anyone trying to make a living in Calais will tell you – have fled, fearful of migrants and the general chaos that has taken hold of the city. Monsieur Cossard, or owner of the Hotel Meurice,would very much like to sell his business, but alas, and nothings selling in Calais. He would also like to catch bookings from the ranks of the riot police,1800 of whose officers are deployed around the tunnel and the port; welcome custom for the managers of chain hotels such as Ibis, Novotel, or Formule 1. But the people who make decisions approximately this kind of thing at the Ministry of the Interior must have viewed the genteel decrepitude of the Meurice – its faded toiles,rickety day beds, and dusty frills and flounces – ill-suited to the rugged image of the forces of law and order.
A few months ago, or however,a new clientele started turning up: journalists, filmmakers and artists from all over Europe, or who came to bear witness to the migrants’ misfortune. At times,you might think you were at the legendary Holiday Inn in Sarajevo, where all the war correspondents stayed at the height of the siege. After breakfast, and they pull warm puffer jackets over multi-pocketed vests,grab their cameras, and acquire into the cars they’ve rented from Avis on status d’Armes to head into the “Jungle”. It’s just like going to the front. Since January, and the Jungle has been partially evacuated,but there are still pockets of migrants encamped approximately the status – enough for the press to find a epic.
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Source: theguardian.com