We were just finishing lunch with friends when one of our pals checked her email and announced that there had been a terrorist attack in Paris. Stunned, we paid the bill and asked the garçons at the bistro what they knew—not much except that a weekly satirical publication, Charlie Hebdo, had been attacked. My husband and I decided to continue our errands in the city, stopping in a café to watch on a TV screen more details as the tragedy unfolded. On the bus back to our quartier, I noticed how many riders were checking their cell phones—like us, probably searching for more specifics of this terrible act that had claimed a dozen lives.

When we arrived back at our small rented apartment, we turned on the television to once again get an update of the day’s events. What struck us as extraordinary was that thousands of Parisians had already started to gather at La Place de la République in memory of those who had been killed and wounded and also to stand firm for freedom of expression against ideological terrorism. (In fact, such demonstrations were held throughout France.)

This spontaneous act reminded me that though I post often when in France about its food, its markets, its many glorious restaurants, I remember at this moment that there is in this special country a long heritage of defending liberty and freedom. Today at noon there will be a national moment of silence in honor of those who lost their lives, and for the next two days the flags will be flown at half-mast.

It is a sad day in Paris, but a proud one as well.