Many readers will know La Madeleine, the imposing neo-classical church in the middle of Paris. But most will probably not know what happened there shortly before Christmas. A young woman entered the church while the choir was rehearsing, stripped off her top and performed a mock abortion at the altar, using pieces of bloody calves' liver to represent the foetus. She was photographed, apparently by arrangement, doing so. On her back were written the words "Christmas is cancelled" (in English, for maximum internet pick-up). Then she left.