Memories from France
1. "I'm an ex-pat from Minnesota, who was living in France working in a translation agency. I was trying to meet some kind of deadline and my colleagues starting saying,
'Um, something's going on in New York...'
Which we all thought was a tragic plane crash. I went back to my document, and a bit later heard,
'You gotta see this...'
By then, the internet was inaccessible. It was the end of the day and I had to go pick up my son from after-school day care. When we got to the apartment, I told him that something terrible had happened back home and we needed to turn on the news. It was completely surreal seeing special bulletins on all the channels and the visibly shaken journalists.
Then we saw the towers fall."
- P. E.
'Um, something's going on in New York...'
Which we all thought was a tragic plane crash. I went back to my document, and a bit later heard,
'You gotta see this...'
By then, the internet was inaccessible. It was the end of the day and I had to go pick up my son from after-school day care. When we got to the apartment, I told him that something terrible had happened back home and we needed to turn on the news. It was completely surreal seeing special bulletins on all the channels and the visibly shaken journalists.
Then we saw the towers fall."
- P. E.
2. "I was 31, an American living in France, and my ex and I both had the afternoon off work. We had just pulled into a parking spot at the local shopping center when the news came on the radio. I don't remember the exact words on the broadcast, but I know I was in a state of shock when I picked our kids up at school an hour or so later.
Our TV antenna only received one channel at the time, and I remember going to a neighbor's house that evening to see if they received any channels from the UK, because they had a satellite dish. There was no language barrier; I was just looking for other coverage than what we were getting. News on the internet did not travel as fast then as it does now and we still had dial-up anyway."
- K. N.
Our TV antenna only received one channel at the time, and I remember going to a neighbor's house that evening to see if they received any channels from the UK, because they had a satellite dish. There was no language barrier; I was just looking for other coverage than what we were getting. News on the internet did not travel as fast then as it does now and we still had dial-up anyway."
- K. N.
3. "Unfortunately, I remember it as if it was yesterday. I was in Châteauneuf-du-Pape for a wine tasting together with my class, because our graduation trip lead us to southern France. Suffice to say, when we returned to our hotel at around 2 pm we were rather drunk.
First thing we noticed was that everyone was hanging out at the bar, where the public telly was. I remember one of my mates shouting something like,
'Oh great, another Die Hard movie! I'm off to the pool!'
Then some of us realised that neither Bruce Willis nor his soft spot for saving the world were to be found, mainly because it wasn't a Hollywood movie on the screen, but CNN.
None of us were in the mood for more reveling afterwards, and most of us were well aware that the world we knew was about to end just like that. Sadly, we were right."
- C. F.
First thing we noticed was that everyone was hanging out at the bar, where the public telly was. I remember one of my mates shouting something like,
'Oh great, another Die Hard movie! I'm off to the pool!'
Then some of us realised that neither Bruce Willis nor his soft spot for saving the world were to be found, mainly because it wasn't a Hollywood movie on the screen, but CNN.
None of us were in the mood for more reveling afterwards, and most of us were well aware that the world we knew was about to end just like that. Sadly, we were right."
- C. F.