What it's like to be an American tourist in France now

[ALS]

For eight of the last 10 years, my husband and I have flown from New York to France for a five-day getaway in late November. Our plans were in place this year long before the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris, and we didn't really consider changing them.

But my mother hoped we would. Talking to her before we left, we reassured her that we'd take every precaution.

"Well, I guess you know what you're doing," she finally said. Then she added, "Is your will up-to-date? And where do you keep it?"

Here are some impressions from our visit.

Full article-American-tourist-france-now (http://news.yahoo.com/american-tourist-france-now-161240523.html)

[Scruffydog777]

Interesting read. It seems the biggest affect they noticed was a lot less travelers from the far east. Now that's understandable. Of course we can't let terrorist dictate the way we lead our lives, but after any event like that, people want to be assured that the chances that it could happen again are at a minimum and they are doing everything in their power to prevent something like that. Once they are confident of that, they will travel again.

On 9/11, people lost all faith that our government and the airlines were doing everything in their powers to prevent what happened that day. At that time we knew terrorists liked to hijack planes; they didn't mind committing suicide and one of their favorite targets was the WTC, so imo, what happened that day, shouldn't have been a surprise. It had a huge affect on the airline industry and it took a long time before they regained the public trust that they were doing as good a job as was possible.

Paris and France are in a tough situation. They have open borders. They've let too many people into their country, a number of which probably have radical ties and there's not enough people or money to follow all of them. But these are different times. They now realize they have to eliminate organizations like ISIS at their roots. They have to sometimes step outside the rules and regulations to get these people which will bother a lot of people, but it's a price that has to be paid.

I think after a few weeks, people will have confidence that France is doing everything in their power and the tourists, knowing it will never be 100% safe "wherever" they go, will return. As I mentioned in another thread, I'm hoping to go there for Les Enfoires. I will be a lot more vigilant for anything unusual. I also know Paris will be a favorite target for some time to come, but I'm not going to let that stop me from doing what I like to do.

[Merci Alizée]

I think after a few weeks, people will have confidence that France is doing everything in their power and the tourists, knowing it will never be 100% safe "wherever" they go, will return. As I mentioned in another thread, I'm hoping to go there for Les Enfoires. I will be a lot more vigilant for anything unusual. I also know Paris will be a favorite target for some time to come, but I'm not going to let that stop me from doing what I like to do.

I agree with that. Although you can't stop yourself from being affected by any event across the globe, one day you realize that risks will always be there. At best you can be aware of the situation around you and try to best to remain safe. After that nothing should hurt your determination to do what you want to.