Dalrymple has a brief new essay at City Journal regarding a recent experience on a Paris commuter train in which he grew uneasy because of the multiplicity of cultures, ethnicities and languages of the passengers.
Normally I take a taxi to the airport when I fly from Paris, but with the ascent of the euro and the descent (so far, I am glad to say, only anticipated) of my income, I decided this time to go by train. One gets a slightly closer view that way of the often hideous concrete jungle surrounding Paris—still the most beautiful city in the world, however, with the possible exception of Venice.
Getting on the crammed mass-transit train at rush hour at the Gare du Nord, I suddenly felt uneasy…