http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...-to-Paris.html

Hi cigal; For me, going to Paris would be no problem. Consider, our 6th trip to Paris this past July, my wife and I just walked for 4 days and enjoyed Paris. We had seen many of the major sights. We bumped into my wife's dentist.

But if you wanted to see the major sights, probably better to wait until everything you want to see is open.

We went to France 3 weeks after September 11th. Our friends opted out of visiting Paris and we just went for five nights in a very small chateau.

One of our friends who says 'those French' had a lovely talk with a villager.

Still said 'those French', one of the reasons we have departed our friendship with them, but I am sad about that, as he and I were great friends.

There is a post on the Paris Under Siege thread that says:

The culture minister announced this afternoon that cultural institutions will reopen tomorrow (Monday) at 1pm, following security briefings and a minute of silence.

In other words, looks like major sites (possibly aside from the Eiffel Tower?) will be open as of tomorrow afternoon.

I mentioned that things would be back to normal on Tuesday, because a great many places are closed on Mondays.

There were a few false reports of terrorist activity tonight - one blamed on an exploding lightbulb in my neighborhood, others due to people thinking it was funny to make a loud noise and watch the crowd run like crazy. I was caught up in one of them, and "funny" was not the word I would use.

If you stay away from places like Republique, Bataclan, and other places where the attacks took place, you shouldn't have any problem at all. Police are encouraging people to stay away from these areas.

Just booked a hotel in the area.
Partly out of defiance ? respect ?

Both, but I think you know what you are doing.

I just read that people thought someone lit a firecracker. Why are there stupid people everywhere that would think that a wise thing to do. I did just see where France bomb ISIS hard today.

The bigger problem is that too many people will forget all about this too soon.

I moved to Paris in 1973 and bombs started exploding in Paris in 1974 in my timeline, although of course there had been explosions and shootings over the previous 200 years quite regularly.

3 August 1974: car bombs in front of 3 right wing newspapers
15 September 1974: terrorist Carlos blows up the Drugstore Saint Germain (fatalities)
13 January 1975: rocket attack at Orly by Carlos against El Al
19 January 1975: another rocket attack at Orly
5 January 1975: bomb at a right wing newspaper
9 March 1975: bomb at Gare de l'Est (fatality)
10 April 1975: car bomb in front of the Algerian consulate in Paris
13 June 1975: assassination of the editor of the main Paris daily newspaper
17 September 1975: bombing of 3 Spanish banks in Paris
24 October 1975: assassination of Turkish ambassador in Paris
4 December 1975: bombing of l'Express newsweekly


And so it went... 1976 and 1977 were much worse with many more deaths. Car bombs and bombs going off all over the city. In these 40+ years, I have learned to never ignore an abandoned package, never sit with my back to a window or door in a café or restaurant and to always be ready to shield myself in a split second.

There have been more calm years than dangerous years since I moved here, but I have been within blast range of more bombs that I would like to remember, particularly in 1986 when we had a major bomb every day for a week in September. It was this period that gave birth to the ugly plastic trash bags that we have on the streets, because most of the bombs at that time were deposited in rubbish bins.

The event on November 13 was as gruesome as it was horrible, but these things are not going to go away, ever.

Our only defense as "innocent bystanders" is to be as vigilant as possible.

Thank you, Kerouac for the voice of reason.

I remember well the IRA bombings and assassinations in England and the Republic.

I spent last week in Oklahoma City, where 165 men, women, and little children were murdered by right wing American heartlanders.

Last night, we took the Back Bay Shuttle from Logan Airport to Hynes Auditorium where the Marathon was bombed.

Two friends and many, many business associates of my family died at the World Trade Center.

And in your city and mine dozens will kill family, friends, strangers in anger over nothing, over minuscule amounts of money, over a bottle or some dope. And out in the street, a girl texting on her cell phone or an old man who hit the brake but the car speeded up will kill some number of innocent people. And it will happen again next week.

Horrible? Yes, but what can we do except be alert, be wise, and be as kind as we are able to those we meet in the time we have them.

I agree with Kerouac's perspective. It's a sad fact that this sort of thing is becoming background noise, something to be expected every few years. I'm sketching out a trip to France next spring and I'll not be deterred by these wack jobs.

<Yes, but what can we do except be alert, be wise, and be as kind as we are able to those we meet in the time we have them.>

Kerouac I really appreciate your perspective. When I first came to America after the UK and Ireland in the 70's and 80"s, I couldn't believe how relaxed people were about items left in public - people thought I was over the top to worry about a bag left on a bench. We have a lot more fear now but in many ways it doesn't seem helpful and I don't know that we are more alert. But then perhaps there's very little we can do anyway?

It is really depressing to read these posts where people think everybody should learn to get used to the idea of living in total insecurity with a constant threat of being murdered, and supposedly there is no other way to live except in a paranoid, militarised crouch.

I don't want to live that way and I feel there are things one can do in a democracy to turn away from policies that breed chaos and violence, and make everyone insecure and a target.

A great many communities in the world, especially within Europe and Canada, are still quite safe from daily threats of armed people. We should look to those communities and see what they are doing, what policies they're governments are following and learn. We are doing something wrong to be living in a world of escalating violence. I think we have an adult responsibility to face the issues -- difficult and complex as they are -- and change the situation.

Well, sandralist, until you are elected Undisputed Emperor of the Known Universe (which would probably be a good thing, since all our problems would be solved immediately), those of us living in the real world will probably have to keep pretty much the same perspective as kerouac has.

Not saying that we shouldn't all work for change, but that hasn't seemed to work too well in the last several decades...even centuries.

I have reached the conclusion that we have to accept that this "risk" is our new normal.

Where are you completely safe from a terrorist activity? Just in the US
- Church? (nope, see Charleston)
- School? (nope, see Sandy Hook, VA Tech and LOTS more)
- Sporting Events (nope, see Boston Marathon)
- Work (nope, see Oklahoma, World Trade Center, Chattanooga)
- Movie Theatre (nope, see Columbine and Nashville)

And the list goes on. About all you can do is pay attention to your surroundings and proceed with your life. Sheltering in place under the bed would seem to be the "safe" option, but rather unrealistic!

I WILL CONTINUE TO TRAVEL as it is my passion!
TREND GIRL

"When I first came to America after the UK and Ireland in the 70's and 80"s, I couldn't believe how relaxed people were about items left in public - people thought I was over the top to worry about a bag left on a bench."

So true, I was dumbfounded by the victim of the Boston bombing who watched one of the bombers put down a backpack and walk away and said nothing.

"It is really depressing to read these posts where people think everybody should learn to get used to the idea of living in total insecurity with a constant threat of being murdered, and supposedly there is no other way to live except in a paranoid, militarised crouch."

I don't see anyone suggesting that we live like that. What is unfortunately true is that the threat of violence varies according to time and place (try living in the time of the Mongol invasions) and right now the threat in western nations is higher than it has been for the last few decades (remember WWII?) in some places (certainly not all, see ETA, IRA etc.). That doesn't mean we should stay home (bathrooms are pretty dangerous too), but that a higher level of alertness might be a good idea, along with some precautions (those clear plastic trash cans in Paris, for instance).

I've just mentioned to various friends this week, that I've been going to Europe regularly since seventy-three and have been there when more than a few unrest situations transpired. There seemed to be ongoing incidences in the seventies and eighties. Now that we have the social media that we didn't have back then, the news gets out faster and more detailed.

I wonder how many people even remember the bombings in Copenhagen in 1985. I do, as I was on my way by bike to my regular camera shop, to try to put in some film when I noticed that the window had been shattered at the camera shop, due to a bomb that had been thrown into the Northwest Orient Airline office, directly across from the camera shop.

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-07-...ist-explosions

I had been out on my bike the entire day, not knowing that bombs were going off in the city. There were no cell phones then, so Danish friends couldn't call to let me know.

Then, there was the Pan Am bombing of 1988. I was in Danmark then and on my way home a week later on Pan Am, from the German portion of the flight, and part of my flight was on the same route. My plane was nearly empty and business class was saved only for grieving family members, as I was told by the flight attendants, who reassigned me from business class down to economy class.

When the plane landed in N.Y, where I had to change planes, there was a girl at baggage claim that started to cry. I calmed her and helped her look for her baggage. She went on to mention that she had just finished her college exchange-student program and was to be on that Pan Am flight that had just gone down, but that she had begged her parents to let her stay on another week. Well, it saved her life. Other students were on that flight as she had mentioned that they were Syracuse University students.

http://archives.syr.edu/panam/victims/

I remember various incidences in Paris, as I started going to Paris in 1975. There were other European incidences in other European countries as well. When one asks, "When is it safe to go?", I just answer that it's impossible to answer such. I continue to go and am as cautious and observant now as I was starting back in the seventies.

I won't even get into the various incidences in Africa and S.E. Asia, like the New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok in 2006/2007 as I was there and my best, Thai friend and I had been out and about in the city all day and then that evening, after we had gotten back to my serviced apartment, the bombs went off.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/200...s3.mainsection

But, I leave for Bangkok soon even with the more recent bombing situation at Erawon Shrine which is a 5-10-minute walk from the apartment that I rent and I also have a plane ticket and accommodations booked for Paris and Danmark for early summer. I was also in Europe this past summer which included Paris.

Happy Travels!

Well, I think sandralist makes good points.
<We are doing something wrong to be living in a world of escalating violence.>
Isn't this indisputable, if by "we" one means "humans"?

The US has shown itself to be unwilling to do anything to stop mass shootings even as they become more frequent. OTOH, most Americans nodded approvingly when Hollande said that France is at war with ISIS and immediately sent planes to bomb ISIS targets in Syria.

I am not saying that I know what should be done instead. But I do agree that this fatalistic response--"there's nothing to be done about (fill in the blank--shootings, bombings, etc.)"--is not actually true, because we haven't tried everything yet. We have tried doing the same sorts of things, expecting a different result. Isn't that he definition of insanity?

386 people have died in mass shootings in the U.S. this calendar year. 149 in France. It is all in the perspective. I don't see the world as a "more violent" or "less violent" with the current state of affairs. Al Gore's invention of the internet has caused the fear and hysteria to be placed on peoples' doorsteps (or keyboards) and that is generating the "terror".

BTW, that is precisely what terror-ists do, is instill terror. They hadn't been to effective in generating true terror until the last 40-50 years, and they've been more effective in the last 15 years.

This too shall pass. I agree with Kerouac, being aware of what you are doing and what is around you is never a bad thing. Things change, times change. When I was a kid, we played in the streets, and yelled car! Kids don't play in streets anymore, too many cars.

pariwat - would you like to see your 17-yr-old daughter going to Paris right now? curious - many parents would not, rational or not - I predict many Study Abroad programs will cancel Paris, right or wrong.