My daughter is currently a junior at FSU. She is minoring in French and so will be studying for a month this summer in a program the university runs in Paris. FSU has a permanent facility in Paris and conducts a lot of supervised activities for the group. But she will have some personal time to explore on her own.
I am retired from the Air Force after 33 years. I have been all over the world (Europe, Central & South America, Northern Africa and the Mideast), explored a lot of the third world without any fear for my personal safety. I don't believe that it's really much less safe than any major city in America.
But I'm 6'2" and 215 lbs. We're talking about my daughter.
I'm not even sure if pepper spray is legal in Paris, let alone tasers, etc. And I'm sure that getting such items on an international flight would be EXTREMELY problematic.
So, I freaking out just a little bit here. What can I do to help protect my daughter who is so sure that nothing bad will ever happen to her ("Dad, security in Paris will be so high because of the attacks, I'll be fine."), and will be halfway around the world from me being able to rush to the rescue? As inflated as my self-opinion is, I know that I'm not Liam Neeson...