For my 21st birthday, I saved up money to take me and my mum on a weekend away. We're both extremely anxious people but I wanted a holiday so we picked somewhere we thought was very safe, Paris. We researched the safest district in the city, we planned everything down to the letter to avoid us getting mugged or lost or anything else. I picked seats on the flight that were my lucky numbers, we specifically picked a place that was only an hour away (i'm a nervous flyer) and we were all set to go.
It was January 2015, we had booked a hotel on Boulevard Voltaire. We ended up right in the middle of where the Charlie Hebdo attacks took place. When our plane was due to land, our pilot told us we'd have to circle in the air for a while, as there was an 'incident'. When we landed we were terrified. We had booked a shared taxi and we had to wait for so long for the taxi man to pick up and drop off all the other taxi users. We didn't understand why we we're being kept till last. We didn't realise it was because the street our hotel was on had been shut because there were armed men on the run in the area. The taxi man, who I'm sure was just as scared as us, and kept getting worried calls from his wife, drove us up and down different streets for over an hour until he found a way to get us safely to our hotel. I was blown away by his kindness and how determined he was to get us there safely. We hugged him tight when we finally arrived and hoped he made it home safely too. We checked into our hotel and was told there was no food or drinks available as the staff had been sent home. That first night, while the manhunt continued outside, we stayed locked in our room and constantly checked for updates on the news. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, but my mum, being the amazing woman she is, didn't want it to ruin my birthday. The next day, after a pretty sleepless night, she forced us to go out to all the landmarks and enjoy the city, even though all I wanted to do was go home, or stay inside. When we first got up for breakfast, the lovely lady at the front desk was just beginning her shift, we asked her if we should go out. She said "We must continue living our lives as normal or they win." She was wonderful, so kind, and made us feel safer. Every second we spent outside I shook with fear. I was constantly scanning the area for threats, but my mum made us carry on. Long story short, obviously, we survived.
On the Sunday the city had arranged a march to take place on our street. I was on high alert. I immediately pictured all the terrible things that could happen, in a big crowd, right outside our hotel, when there was still threat of terror activities. So we agreed to stay inside and watch from the window rather than take part. But seeing all those people of different backgrounds, ages, languages, and religions come together - it's something I'll never forget.
