France is at war, and it changes everything.

According to an opinion poll published on Tuesday, 73 % of the French think President François Hollande is 'up to the situation' after the Paris attacks on November 13. Right after the events, the head of state, who was one of the targets of the terrorists in the Stade de France, decided on bombing the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria and called for the creation of 5000 new posts in the police and the armed forces.

He also heralded an idea that was never before supported by the left in France: the possibility of withdrawing French citizenship from someone with dual nationality. On Thursday, the members of Parliament (minus six from the left) voted for the extension of the state of emergency for three months. Among other measures, it strenghtens controls on people who are already under house arrest, with the enforcement of electronic tag bracelets.

There has definitely been a shift in mood since the January attacks on Charlie Hebdo which I wrote about for this newspaper. People already knew that jihadists were determined, elusive and dangerous, but they were reassured by tighter security checks at the entrance of official buildings and the display of soldiers in front of Jewish schools. Now they know that the threat is everywhere and can strike at random in different places at the same time, aiming at disrupting police and emergency services.

By carrying out mass shootings in the heart of a lively neighbourhood of Paris on a Friday evening, the terrorists were sure to create a commotion in the whole country. Some victims came from Lille, Montpellier, Caen, especially to see a concert at the well-known Bataclan concert hall, or simply to have a good time in the capital. Everybody knows someone who knows someone who was affected in some way.

Some are numb, some are scared. "I spent the weekend with my family in Burgundy," my friend Marie, who lives in Paris, tells me. "I never saw my nieces so shocked and scared."

Despite being a pacifist through and through, even she rejoiced when she heard of the death of the so-called "ringleader" of the attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

Another friend commented on his Facebook page: "Yes, our Eiffel tower in red, white and blue is beautiful. On the other hand, if it's our only answer to their barbarity, I fear the fight is already lost for us!"

Other Parisians defiantly meet in cafés. "Let's sit outside," they say. "We are not afraid," other states on their Facebook profiles, knowing fine well that their lifestyle can not be a shield against an AK-47.

In Lyons, 400 km from Paris, the famous Festival of Lights, which takes place every December, has been cancelled, mainly for fear of panic and stampede. People are coming to terms with the fact that this is a war they are in, and that extraordinary measures have to be taken.

Not everybody thinks that way though. "I don't want restrictions on my liberty, because that's what the terrorists are after," said a young woman from Lyons on French TV. An MP from the Socialist party who voted against the extension of the state of emergency explained in Le Monde newspaper that the law already allows the security service to track down terrorists, and that extraordinary measures when the country is in a state of shock are a threat to democracy. Trade unions and environmental activists who are preparing for the forthcoming COP21 sustainability summit in Paris at the end of the month groan at the ban on all public rallies.

Anne, a civil servant who works in Paris, tries to put things in perspective: "I know I have more risk of being run over by a car than of being shot in the street. What scares me the most is the fact that all police forces will be allowed to carry their gun all the time." The perpetual arming of all wings of the French police is one of the measures taken by the government.

The example of the United States is in everybody's mind. What to do with French citizens who train in Syria and come back ready for jihad? Could there be a French Patriot Act? A French Guantanamo? Nicolas Hénin, a French journalist who was held hostage by ISIS, wrote a column last Monday in which he said he thinks bombing IS is a mistake

"The fact is we are trapped: Isis has trapped us. They came to Paris with Kalashnikovs, claiming that they wanted to stop the bombing, but knowing all too well that the attack would force us to keep bombing (…). That is what is happening."

France has already known terrorist attacks in the past, and Parisians are forever reminded to "not leave (their) luggage unattended" on public transports. Now they have to live with a global threat. The French can reassure themselves with the fact that they live in a stable state with functioning public services. Hospitals did an amazing job saving lives on Friday, legions of ordinary citizens rescued total strangers in their, the army successfully raided a terrorists' hideout in Saint-Denis - and France, against the hopes of the jihadists, was not destroyed.

"Only recently, we had a training course about how to react in case of an emergency," says Maryse, a nurse who works in a hospital near Toulouse. "I know where to go and what to do in order to be operational."

Maybe those who don't work in the army or hospitals should all take courses in life-saving procedures, learn how to apply a tourniquet, and hope for the best.