Fear has gripped Germany after a series of attacks, and in France many feel they are in the midst of a summer unlike any other. Hanno, 23, who declined to give his surname, was with a group of friends listening to a performance by the singer Gregor Meyle at the time. Then suddenly there was a big bang. In between was the Munich shooting by a Hitler-loving rightwing extremist and a fatal machete attack on a year-old pregnant Polish woman by a year-old Syrian in an apparent domestic dispute.
Meanwhile, in France, which has been far more battered and for far longer by terrorist attacks than neighbouring Germany in recent years, the feeling among many is that they are in the midst of a summer unlike any other. Heavily armed police now stroll the golden beaches of the French Riviera where, in Cannes, holidaymakers have been banned from carrying large bags. Children are petrified rather than enchanted by firework displays and young concert- and festivalgoers have one eye on the main act and one on the emergency exit.
Getting on the underground or train triggers an uneasy feeling. Since the series of bombings and shootings in November in Paris , Parisians have become used to seeing rifle-toting soldiers outside schools, on the boulevards and in the railway stations, but it is still unsettling.
If a scooter backfires, everyone flinches. As adults we can try to rationalise the risk, but for children it becomes a huge all-pervading fear.
Outside the Hotel de Ville, where nightly concerts are held during Paris Plage, high metal grills have been erected around the city hall courtyard. On the other side of the country, masses have been cancelled at Strasbourg Cathedral and from next week opening times to tourists have been restricted.
