This morning, just days after a series of terror attacks killed 120 and injured hundreds more in Paris, French President François Hollande declared his country to be officially at war with the group that calls itself the Islamic State.
Meanwhile, on the streets of the city, Parisians struggled to regain a sense of normalcy in their lives.
"It's been a very exhausting, nervewracking, sad weekend in Paris," said Vivienne Walt, a foreign correspondent based in the city. "People have now gone back to work, kids have gone back to school, but the city is still struggling to regain its equilibrium."
Walt joined Boston Public Radio with Jim Braude and Margery Eagan—along with analyst and head of The GroundTruth Project Charlie Sennott—to talk about the state of Paris today, the impact the attacks will have on foreign policy moving forward, and, on a more personal level, how she struggled to explain what happened to her nine-year-old son.
"Until now, all this terrorism and war stuff has seemed like something that's gone on between adults, to which kids are somehow protected," Walt said, "and the wall is breaking down."
Particularly difficult to answer, she continued, was his question about why some restaurants and venues were targeted instead of others.
"In other words," Walt explained, "is there a way to make sense of this so you can avoid being in places that are targets? Sadly, the answer is no."
To hear more from Vivienne Walt and Charlie Sennott, tune in to Boston Public Radio above.
