I had the pleasure of traveling to France in April of 2015 for my graduation present. I went along with a dozen or so excited teachers and friends that had waited for this trip for the better part of a year. We were hoping it would be a life-changing trip with beautiful sights, mouth-watering food, and an overwhelming amount of history.

Without a doubt, it was all of that and much more.

This is Nice, France:

I love Nice.

This is also Nice:

Another beautiful sight from Nice:

However, this is also Nice. But unlike the previous three images, this is not nice.

This is not the Nice that I grew to love. Unless you've been asleep for the past few days, you've heard of the recent attack on Nice, in which a truck plowed through a crowd and killed seventy-plus people on Bastille Day.

I road through these streets, through many alleys I walked, and ate from the Nicest street merchants around, pardon the pun.

This is Nice, but it shouldn't be. It's hard to swallow that I was there just last year, with my friends and teachers. It's hard to swallow, knowing that this beautiful place in which I could have spent my entire vacation, will be permanently scarred.

The kindness of the people was ever-so-present and also ever-so-pleasant.

Everyone had a sparkle in their eye - the vendors, the pizza-makers, and the lone homeless man that I encountered.

I can't imagine what their eyes look like now. Terror, fright, and tears replace that sparkle.

I know that the people of Nice and the French as a whole will unite and strengthen as they always do, but I wonder how much more these people can take.

A tragedy has happened to one of the most beautiful places in the entire world.

I wonder when the wall will break, but I pray that it never does.

Pray for Nice? Yes.
Pray for France? Yes.
Pray for the world? Certainly.