My younger daughter has always been a major Francophile. We have no idea where her love affair with France came from, but she’s had a special place in her heart for it since she was tiny. For her seventh birthday, she had just one wish: to go to Paris and have her birthday dinner on the Eiffel Tower, so we made it happen. My husband stayed home with our other three children, and off we went, just Mommy and daughter, on the most magical little adventure. Eleven years later, she still talks about that trip as one of her favorite childhood memories, and honestly, it’s one of mine too. ❤️
I’m so incredibly grateful we made that trip when we did. That I could take my little girl by the hand and wander through the streets of Paris, just the two of us, without fear or hesitation. Paris isn’t just another city. It’s a place that has inspired the world for centuries through its art, architecture, literature, beauty, and extraordinary history. Generations have fallen in love with it, and my little girl was one of them.
That’s what makes seeing the images coming out of Paris so heartbreaking. My husband has said with absolute certainty that he would never feel comfortable with the two of us making that same trip alone today, and I can’t say I would either. It’s not simply about feeling less safe traveling there. It’s the sadness of watching a city so deeply woven into the world’s cultural heritage become associated, in these moments, with fear, division, and unrest.
Eleven years ago, I gave my daughter the birthday of her dreams. Today, I don’t believe I could give her that same gift.
I think what saddens me most is that when we lose the confidence to share the world’s most beautiful and historic places with our children, we risk losing something far greater than the freedom to travel. We risk losing the living connection between generations and the history, beauty, and culture we are meant to pass down. History isn’t just something preserved in museums and monuments. It’s something we experience, cherish, and pass on to our children. And when we stop feeling safe enough to do that, something precious is lost, even if the monuments themselves are still standing.
I’m so grateful my daughter has those memories, but it breaks my heart to think that other little girls who love France as deeply as she did may never experience that same magic of Paris. 💔🇫🇷