My Response to the Nice Attack

Terrorism hit France again — this time on Bastille Day. That’s the day the French celebrate one of the most consequential events in the history of Western civilization: the French Revolution. In 1789, France was on the front line of bringing our world basic values we often take for granted today: blessings like liberty, equality, tolerance, and pluralism. It paid dearly, and we all benefited. Today, France (still a champion of these Western values) is on the front line of terrorism, and they are, again, paying dearly. Here are a few thoughts I had from a mountaintop in France.

Comments

16 Replies to “My Response to the Nice Attack”

  1. Bonjour.
    Hi,

    Well said Rick. The way to get back at the terrorists is to travel and spread our dollars so the European economy remains strong.

    I bet you’ll enjoy being a tour guide again.

    Viva la France!

    Jeff

  2. Instead of simply praying for Nice, Paris, Lyon, Thyols… I’ll keep on traveling and try my best to support the right leaders that could bring change to this chaos that the world is seeing all too frequently. Change isn’t going to start from the top, it has to start from the people.

  3. Thank you, Rick, for a heartfelt message, I agree with you that to love our neighbor as we are taught to do, we have to know our neighbor; travel is an excellent way to do that. I personally am going to travel as much as possible. I am going on your 17 Days in Italy tour in October. Also, I have signed up for your 7 Days in Rome tour March 2017.
    Best,
    Judy Bridges

  4. Pretty sure me spending my tourist dollars in Europe won’t end the radical Islamic terrorist jihad. Lots of sites to visit in the U.S. so I think I’ll be sticking close to home. Hopefully one of your tour groups isn’t trapped in Istanbul right now. The last tour I went on, you updated your T&Cs to include acts of terrorism, so at least you recognize it’s an issue from a bottom-line perspective (no refunds). Otherwise, it’s “keep on travelin’.”

  5. Here here, well said!

    NPR is reporting that there is a coup thing on in Turkey right now, what interesting times we live in…

  6. Very nice thoughts, Rick, and at one of the loveliest places in Europe.

    When terrorism strikes in Europe, I don’t feel sad — I feel angry, and even more determined to strike back by traveling there, thumbing my nose at the terrorists.

    Oh, if I only had a larger wallet, I’d be traveling there more often than I do, but I hope next year to go to Paris and Normandy. After all, the Allies didn’t storm the beaches of Normandy for us to stay locked up in our rooms.

  7. As I was sitting on the couch in my parents’ home in 83000 Batu Pahat, Malaysia and when I saw the video clip of the truck that was reportedly laden with arms, i.e. guns & grenades, driven by that crazed armed terrorist and the photo of that immobile doll lying beside that lifeless wrapped young body, I am instictively reminded of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1373 (2001) & 1566 (2004) and the efficacy & enforcement of such Chapter VII resolutions in the fight against terrorism. In plain language, the international community should pay heed to the very sound & lucid arguments that Terrorism is An International Crime that must be punished in the International Criminal Court :

    accademia.edu
    icclr.law.ubc.ca
    abc.net.au

  8. Thank you for your touching commentary re the slaughter in Nice on Bastille Day. It is yet another shock for the people of France and all those who love freedom. After 30 years of visiting France annually, I took the plunge last December, sold my house and nearly everything I owned, and moved to a tiny village in the Charente-Maritime on the west coast of France. I arrived here shortly after the Paris massacre and now, half a year later, we have this…another nightmare, another tragedy. We’re in a three-day period of mourning here, and my heart aches. Yet outside my door are blue skies, fields of sunflowers, wheat being harvested, acres of vineyards and all the wonderful friends I’ve made here in the French countryside. You’re right, Rick, let’s all keep on travelling!

  9. Sorry Rick it is not ” liberty, equality, tolerance, and pluralism”. It is “liberty, equality and fraternity” And the French Revolutionaries were not tolerant to anyone who disagree with their radical political goal of “remaking human nature”. They passed the Law of Suspects to arrest and kill people without a trial for simply what they said (and thus thought).

    Given what Europe is doing to itself with immigration. I think I will spend less time “keeping on traveling.”

  10. This is a statement from Anelka (Ex Arsenal football player) which is interesting:

    (Anelka:) “Unfortunately, only in France do you have to hide your name and your picture if you are Arab or Muslim in order to find work. This type of racism is unacceptable”.

    For more see:http://www.arabviews.xyz/

  11. My travels took me to California to witness the huge farms that are tended by farmers that produce beautiful food for our families here in the US. In the late 1800s the struggling family farms had to fight for the right to keep their land and crops safe from the mining companies that fought to have the right to mine gold. Too often the process of mining created flooding of the small farm land along with casualties.
    Today, we can drive along the coast to see the bountiful
    outcome of this struggle. Thousands of acres of fruit trees, vegetables, made possible by the growers of this great state.

  12. I fully agree with Rick that we need to celebrate tolerance, think about root causes, and travel so we can better know our neighbor. In the context of Rick’s response to the Nice terror attack, though, getting to ‘know our neighbor’ would require getting to know the immigrant communities in Europe. I may have missed it, but I don’t see any Rick Steves tours including visits to the Sint-Jans-Molenbeek neighborhood in Brussels, the immigrant banlieues of Paris, or similar immigrant neighborhoods.

    When will Rick Steves tours start including visits to these neighborhoods?

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