Audio: An Air Raid Siren Test in Paris

This is a recording demonstrating the audible beauty of civil contingencies! On the first Wednesday of every month at midday the air raid warning system is tested in Paris. It sounds incredibly eerie as you can hear it echoing around the streets, the sirens in one part of the city not quite synchronised with those somewhere else across town and the whole ghostly wailing intermingled with the sound of church bells ringing for the lunchtime mass. For me the most sobering thing is that they don't sound much like World War Two relics. They sound familiar yet quite modern and new, a warning for now rather than being something confined to the past.

Air Raid Sirens in Paris

I apologise for the fact that the sound quality might be deemed to be a bit poor. I recorded the sirens using the built in mic on my laptop, it being perched on my knees as I sat by an open window on the staircase leading to the loo. It's still an evocative sound though, especially when you remember that it's playing out against the backdrop of a bustling European metropolis.