<p>The only time I’ve ever been mugged is in Los Angeles and I was with three other adults at the time in broad daylight.</p>
<p>It would be different in London though not necessarily better. The language would not be an issue (well not as much of an issue 
) We found London and the tourist sites to be almost unbearably crowded this summer. And believe me London has it’s share of crime - to be quite honest probably more than Paris. (I am English by the way). Like I said - a lot of it is common sense. Don’t carry too much cash. Be aware of your surroundings. I carried my Passport and cash/valuables in one of those under the clothes money bags when travelling.</p>
<p>Two things - </p>
<p>I think (don’t flame me please) that you need to have your wits about you a bit more in Italy than in Paris. Mind you, Italy is my favorite place in the whole world none the less.</p>
<p>And, oddly, a good friend of mine was kidnapped in Vienna when traveling as a college student. She was held overnight with two friends, and released unharmed in the morning. One of the friends (the boy) was forced to carry out some sort of illegal drug business for the kidnappers. It is an odd and really scary story - for one thing they did something stupid, going off with a stranger in search of housing for the night (they had taken a side trip to see a concert in Vienna)- but clearly NOT A NORMAL EVENT!</p>
<p>My S has an opportunity to take a 6 wk lab this summer in Lyon, France. Or he can study at the University College London next year. I really think London scares me the worst - terrorism, poisoned spies, etc. It’s really a hard decision.</p>
<p>Terrorism is a fact of life everywhere I guess…</p>
<p>I’d go to Lyon for the food.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve heard the food is great there (Lyon). H says the food in London isn’t the greatest.</p>
<p>Um, maybe I should stop reading this thread??? 
My D is living in Florence. MKM…that is a really bad story and I am glad for your sake that you did not know a thing until it was over. I also think that sort of thing can happen anywhere here in the US. Lyon…so happens that in one week, my D is flying alone to Lyon where she is to stay with a French girl who lives there, who was her roomie this summer when she worked in France. With her, she is going skiing in the Alps. You can worry wherever your kid is. I truly don’t think your kid is in any less safe a situation being in Paris than being in a US city. Parents worry. It is our nature. I felt like I went through hell the other night with my D in NYC because she wasn’t where she should have been and had us very very worried for about two hours when she flew back to NYC from here. Under the specific circumstances, my mind went through the entire gamut. My husband and I were a nervous wreck, all due to a choice she made that did not use good judgment and wasn’t what she had told us as to how she was getting back to her dorm/college and so she had us worried sick and she knows it. Nothing happened to her but we were quite worried that something did and felt she put herself in a more vulnerable situation than she should have. Funny thing (well not so funny at the time) was we were so worked up until we heard hopefully from D2 in NYC, all the while D1 was on a train from Switzerland overnight back to Florence on her own. She is so responsible but I was up so late worried about D2, that once we heard she was safe, I had to call D1 who was on that train just as she said, about to arrive in Florence. So, in some ways, here I was way more worried about my D in NYC that night than the one traveling all by herself from one country to another. Go figure. But really these issues are not tied to being abroad. Safety and concern for our kids permeates any place where they are at. Here in my quite safe state, relatively speaking, a college girl was murdered walking from downtown Burlington to her dorm, not anywhere that I ever would have thought was unsafe. Simply asking someone to borrow his cell phone led to her murder. That was all I could think about the other night when D1 took a different route home to her college late at night than she was told to do and wasn’t heard from for a while. So, really, these issues are not tied to being abroad as they are to just about where they are. (but I could do without more Florence stories, thank you very much!)</p>
<p>When my son travels from point a to point b, he has learned to text me. We have phones that work anywhere on the planet. That’s all I ask from him, at least for now. I am a great worrier as it seems from reading this thread, we all are. I love cell phones for that reason. I get a short text on his various stages of journey and I am satisfied and happy.</p>
<p>I was mugged in San Francisco. (Just volunteering… it was a very long time ago)</p>
<p>Paris is really safe – during the summer the city is full of tourists, and there really isn’t a language problem at all – there are people who speak English just about everywhere, and when I was there 2 years ago I found that I already knew French bakery & restaurant-speak. If I could say the name of the food and sil vous plait? when I ordered, merci when the food was produced, it was fine. (Every single sit-down restaurant I walked into also had menus printed in English, but that would have taken the fun out of it). </p>
<p>It is amazingly easy to get around via the metro, the city is full of young people, and you hear English spoken wherever you go.</p>
<p>I do know someone who had a laptop computer stolen at the Paris airport a few years ago – just took his eyes off it for a second and it was gone – so I think that just as everywhere else, travelers should keep a close watch on their possessions. But the bigger problem with money is the temptation to spend it – lots of shopping opportunities. </p>
<p>She’ll be fine.</p>
<p>My own daughter managed fine at age 16 in St. Petersburg - she was traveling with high school group but the kids were scattered in homestays all over the city and needed to use public transportation to get to their university classes. That is a far more dangerous city, but mostly it is a matter of being careful not to put oneself in a risky situation. I honestly think that Paris is probably much safer than New York, where my kiddo now is attending college – certainly the Paris metro is better than the NY subway.</p>
<p>Overseas, I agree about the phone and my kids are to call when they get to point B when traveling. That was the problem a week ago for us. By the way, text messaging doesn’t work at my house. Also this kid was underground for an extended period of time so could not reach us, and we could not reach her and she did not travel in the way we agreed upon and even paid for. Thus the problem. She was not where she should have been and when and she could not tell us and we could not reach her for way too long a time for my nerves.</p>
<p>Boy, I can truly understand that.</p>
<p>AUP is a long-standing school, located in a nice neighborhood in Paris. School has a good faculty and lots of visiting professors from the US. Your D will be fine - there are zillions of Americans in Paris in the summer, and in August you’re actually hard-pressed to find many French people, as they tend to leave the city for their requisite 4 week summer vacation. I do have one criticism of AUP - it’s not the best place to really learn French. There are simply too many Americans around with inadequate language skills, too little opportunity to talk with actual French people. But if learning French is not her priority, if what she’s looking for is a nice thing to do over the summer, then your D will likely have a fabulous experience.</p>
<p>Thanks, all! I’m feeling much better about this, and I feel I can now voice support without a hesitate quaver in my voice! I’m sure it’ll be a fabulous experience for her. I really appreciate your support out there!</p>