I'm staying with my nephew in Paris for two days on the way to Grenoble. Brilliant to catch up with him.

I went to a temporary exhibition at the Musée Carnavalet (the museum of the history of Paris) about the darker side of the French Revolution: the Terror in 1793-94 with its denunciations, sketchy trials, murders and continued guillotine beheadings. Apparently the Terror is often overlooked in French accounts of their wonderful revolution and this exhibition aims to point a spotlight on it.

Despite it having been included in my history lessons (I can see why the British would do that), I find the detail of the factions and the disputes really confusing and it sent me thinking instead about whether effective change can ever be brought about without alienating large chunks of a population and risking civil violence. A bit relevant at the moment...