Two weeks later, French expatriates here are still reeling from the terrorist massacre in Paris. They’ve called home again and again, checking on parents and siblings and children, seeking news, trying to grasp the enormity of the crime visited on their homeland.
For some, the outrage and loss are still too fresh, and they prefer not to speak publicly about the attacks.
But Elisabeth Marchal doesn’t hesitate. She is a 20-year resident of Atlanta and still a citizen of France, and she is heartsick over the killings. But Marchal grasps the very American notion of Thanksgiving Day and readily speaks of what she’s thankful for.
“The whole French Republic has been tested for the past 10 months, and we’re still standing,” Marchal said in a phone interview. “I’m thankful that we’re still standing around our flag, and that the U.S. is standing with us.”
Marchal, 47, said her parents, who live in Normandy, are well and plan to visit her in Atlanta for Christmas. “Of course I’ve talked to them a lot more in the past two weeks,” she said. And as much as she’s looking forward to their visit, she said, “I’m just sad that a lot of families won’t have a great Christmas this year.”
She is pointed in her condemnation of the Nov. 13 terrorists.
"We are proud not to be kneeling to these barbarians," she said. "We represent everything they don't want. We have joie de vivre, we have good wine, we like to party. We are everything they are not. And we are not afraid."
Marchal is a consular adviser in Atlanta, a position to which she was elected by other French residents here. She took part in the vigil at the French consulate on Nov. 15 and says she was moved by what she saw and heard.
“A lot of people showed up from France, and a lot from the U.S.,” she said. “It was a very tight group, very emotional. There were a lot of hugs. I’m proud to be French, and I’m proud to be in Georgia.”
She founded la Clé des Champs — "the key to the fields" — a group of hikers that heads out every few weeks to explore another part of the state. "I try to show French people the beauty of Georgia," she said. "We're big on the North Georgia mountains — Ellijay, Vogell State Park — but mostly in the north. Hiking is better if you have a mountain."
As for her home across the sea, Marchal says, “I just pray for all those people and all those families, and I pray for Paris. Paris will always be Paris. You can try to change it, but it will always come back to itself.”
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