Gonzaga student in Paris sees spirit of city stay strong

Sunday was sunny and beautiful in Paris, and the city seemed fairly normal to Elaina Pignolet, a Gonzaga University junior studying in France this semester.

“There were a lot of people out walking the streets, getting ice cream and sitting by the river,” Pignolet said. “It was nice to see that (Friday’s terrorist attacks) have not terribly affected the spirit of the city, and that everyone is keeping their head up.”

The 20-year-old from Sandpoint is at the Catholic Institute of Paris through the Gonzaga-in-Paris program. She answered questions via email about the shootings and bombings and the two days of shock, mourning and heightened security that followed.

“I don’t feel unsafe, because I know the security in Paris has been stepped up, but the events did make me more cautious,” Pignolet said. “It has also just been hard to be so close to the aftermath of such a terrible event. We saw a note on a shop door that said, ‘We are too sad to be opened today,’ with candles out front.”

She and another GU student were in their dorm Friday, getting ready to head out for the evening. About 10 minutes before they left, they received text messages from two other Gonzaga students across town.

“The text said that there had been a shooting at Place de la Republique and that we should check the news and stay in,” Pignolet said.

They followed news updates on Twitter and a British news channel online.

“We saw the new attacks appear in the news as they were happening,” Pignolet said. “We pretty much watched it unfold from the first shooting, not knowing if it was going to continue or not.”

She added, “I think what is scary about these attacks is that they were in places we very well could have been: a concert, a restaurant. The concert hall was only a few blocks from where we were about to head that night. I am lucky that we got the news before we had left.”

She couldn’t immediately reach her parents, who were in Denver for business, but was able to text her sisters in Spokane and Denver to let them know she was safe. Pignolet said she also used Facebook to communicate with extended family and friends and check on the safety of her other friends in Paris.

Pignolet arrived in Paris two months ago and is one of four GU students spending the semester there. She is studying art and psychology with minors in French and dance. The group is set to return to Spokane on Jan. 8.

The Paris school asked its students to stay inside Saturday. Pignolet left her residence on Ile Saint-Louis, in the middle of Paris, only to visit a grocery store. “When we were out, Paris seemed the same,” she said. “People were out and about going about their business. However, many stores were closed.”

The city is no more dangerous than it was before the attacks, she said, “but we are of course making sure that we are aware of our surroundings.”

Pignolet said she has been moved by the Paris city motto, which translates as, “She is tossed by the waves but does not sink.”

“It is hard to see what hate can do, but I have been so inspired by all of the love that has flooded into Paris after the tragedy,” she said.