Baxter couple return safely from Paris

Baxter couple Jerry and Dorothy Peterson were thankful Sunday to be on American soil.

The Petersons were staying in the heart of Paris at the Mercure Paris Centre Eiffel Tower Hotel while Friday's terror attacks were about 4 miles away from their location, five minutes from the famed Eiffel Tower.

"I'm thankful to be doing laundry today and my husband is doing yard work," Dorothy Peterson said, after returning home safely from Paris. "I've never been so excited to be home."

Peterson's daughter Darcy Walkowiak of Baxter talked to the Dispatch Friday about how her parents were in Paris and how worried they were. Luckily, the Petersons got back to their daughter to let her know they were safe.

Peterson said when the attacks happened she and her husband were sound asleep at their hotel. She said they never heard any sirens that night. Peterson said she happened to wake up at midnight and checked her phone and saw her daughter's Facebook message asking her friends to pray that her parents were OK.

"My first thought was that someone hacked her Facebook page," Peterson said. "I put on my glasses and read all the comments from people and was like 'Oh my God' something is going on in Paris.'"

Peterson woke her husband and they turned on CNN and watched the news in English and learned of the attacks.

"It was unbelievable," she said. "It was a big concern and they closed down the borders, but the airport was open. They told people to remain indoors. They said there would be no school and most of the businesses would be closed."

Peterson said they watched the news until 2:30 a.m. and then got ready to take a shuttle from the hotel to the airport. Peterson said the atmosphere in the hotel was "fairly quiet" and no one seemed to be alarmed. Peterson said she was concerned as she wondered if there would be more attacks and if terrorists would attack the hotel she and her husband were staying at.

"A lot of people were praying for us so I had faith and confidence that we would get home," Peterson said.

"We were on the shuttle and made it easily to the airport. The airport was busier than normal and there was more security. We had to show our passports more on the way home. It wasn't terrible, but it was intense."

The Petersons had to wait at the airport for 5 ½ hours before their flight was ready. The couple left Paris Saturday afternoon Paris time and landed at the Minneapolis airport at 2:30 p.m. Saturday central time. They said it was a nine-hour flight.

The Petersons were on a European Sample Tour of several cities, including London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Heidelberg and Lucern. Their tour was expected to end Saturday, so the attacks only delayed them home by 90 minutes.

"I feel for the people of Paris," Peterson said. "This was my first time in Paris and to see something like this happen to these places, it's pretty sad."

Sonya Chamberlain of Brainerd wasn't in Paris when the attacks happened, but was there four days prior. Chamberlain said some of her family and friends were calling her to see if she was safe because they weren't sure when she was expected home.

Chamberlain, who attended college in Paris, was in the country visiting.

"It was totally quiet and it's such a peaceful, lovely place to be," Chamberlain said of Paris. "We had a great time. I went with a friend.

"I was en route to my sister's place in Mississippi the day it happened so my phone was turned off when I was on the plane. When I got to Mississippi I turned it back on, I had all these texts from people asking if I was OK, if I was back because people couldn't remember when my trip was."

Chamberlain's reaction to when she heard the tragic news was, "It was awful.

"I was surprised, but I also have a feeling of like this happens anywhere now and it makes me sad that I wasn't more shocked. I never would have said Paris would be the next place to be hit. I don't make predictions like that. I think since we were just there that it makes me feel vulnerable that the fact that this stuff happens everywhere now."

Chamberlain said a lot of the sites she had visited the week before had explosions and it makes her sad.

JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 218-855-5851. Follow me at www.twitter.com/jennewsgirl on Twitter.