Charlotte region feels pain of Paris terrorist attacks with the rest of the world

As the world looked on in shock, newlyweds from Charlotte found themselves in a city under siege. A French chef in Charlotte worried about his family in France, where his niece had plans to go to a restaurant that was attacked – but didn’t. And a Paris church music director led 200 bell-ringers in Charlotte with a heavy heart.

‘Eerily quiet’ in entertainment district

Charlotte newlyweds Patrick and Brian Griffith-Paige were at the end of their honeymoon in France, about to break into a crème brûlée late Friday at a Paris restaurant, when their cellphones began to buzz incessantly.

It was friends and family texting: Are you safe? Are you OK?

The couple married on Oct. 3 and flew to southern France on Oct. 30, spending time in Monaco, Nice and Aix en Provence before cruising north to Avignon. They’d arrived in Paris for the “grand finale” on Wednesday and spent Friday visiting the Palace at Versailles and taking in a concert at Sainte-Chapelle in the heart of Paris. They’d not been aware that the city had been under attack by terrorists.

They’re due to fly home Monday.

“While we responded promptly that we were safe, I initially dismissed it as overblown since there didn’t seem to be anything wrong around us,” emailed Patrick, a Charlotte architect. “Within just a few minutes, though, it became clear that everyone in the restaurant was getting the same calls and texts, and I saw one server start to cry on the phone.”

Like the other customers, they decided to pay their bill and head back to their apartment.

What they found was a city under siege. Every taxi was occupied. The Paris subway had shut down. Police were everywhere. So they walked – an unnerving 25 minutes not knowing what was happening.

People spilled out of parties, bars and restaurants into cabs, or onto bicycles and scooters, or like the Griffith-Paiges on foot.

There was “one defining characteristic: Every single person was glued to the cellphones,” Patrick said. “The entertainment district our apartment is in was eerily quiet.”

They spent the rest of Friday night, into Saturday morning, watching news on the BBC.

On Saturday, they stuck to their neighborhood. Businesses were slow to open, but by afternoon some had unlocked their doors.

“Though it’s a scary time, we trust local French authorities and their abilities,” Patrick said. “We don’t feel in danger. You can tell Parisians are working to make things normal again.”

Charlotte chef thankful niece stayed home

All day Saturday, regulars and members of Charlotte’s French community called, texted or visited Renaissance Patisserie on South Boulevard to check in with chef and owner Sylvain Rivet and make sure his family in France was safe.

Rivet, who owns the French bakery with wife Jo-Anne, said he slept little Friday.

He knew is niece, Ludivine Rivet, lives with her boyfriend in the area of Paris targeted by the terrorists. He called his mother, who lives 70 miles south of Paris, but got no answer.

Finally, he got his brother, Marc, Ludivine’s father. His niece was supposed to meet a friend for dinner at the restaurant in Paris’ 10th arrondissement that was attacked.

“The restaurant is 200 meters from her apartment,” Rivet said. “But the friend said, ‘It’s too cold outside. Let’s stay in tonight.’ Thanks to God for the cold.”

A friend of Ludivine’s boyfriend was at the restaurant and was badly wounded in the attack.

He talked to his niece Saturday morning. She knew something was wrong when she heard sirens blaring nonstop. She turned on her television and, with the rest of the world, watched in shock.

The attacks were the topic of conversation in the bakery Saturday. The Rivets and other French natives talked about their concerns that the attacks weren’t over.

“One thing they’re telling us in France is that they don’t feel this is going to end here; that it’s going to get worse,” Jo-Anne Rivet said. “That it’s not going to end well.”

Paris church music director finds healing in Charlotte

With a heavy heart, Fred Gramann looked out over a sea of hundreds of handbell ringers at Charlotte’s Sardis Presbyterian Church on Saturday.

A Washington state native, Gramann has lived in Paris for 43 years where he’s been music director of The American Church in Paris since 1976. He was going out to dinner Friday night when he looked at a TV in his hotel lobby and saw something had happened in Paris.

His heart sank.

“I was up all night either on the phone, or just worrying about my family, my friends and my church,” Gramann said. “All are fine, but it was difficult to be away.”

Directing the handbell ringers at the 20th annual Mid-Carolinas Handbell Festival helped him.

“It helped me for a little while get out of myself,” he said. “Working with music is very healing. Handbell ringers are loving, caring team kind of people. It was like being surrounded by family – very comforting.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Charlotte region feels pain of Paris terrorist attacks with the rest of the world."