CALLER: Canadian at Stade de France during Paris attack
Piya Chattopadhyay: Josh Coles is with us. Josh is originally from Prince Edward Island. Josh, I understand you were at the soccer game Friday night at the Stade de France?
Josh Coles: I was.
PC: How are you?
JC: I'm quite well, luckily. I've had a lot of people worrying about my safety. Luckily I'm fine but it's weird to have been so close to the events of Friday night.
PC: What are you thinking about, Josh, two days after being at that game where the explosions took place just close by. What's on your mind?
JC: A lot of people have been asking me about the mood of the city. Today, I went down to the Place de la Republique today to check out the city and see where everything happened on Friday and pay my respects. That's at the forefront of my mind right now.
It's definitely a weird mood in the city. And I don't pretend to know the city better than I do, but it's interesting to see people react.
PC: You're on vacation in Paris.
JC: Yeah, I just arrived got here on Friday actually.
PC: You arrived on Friday! And the first thing you did was go to the soccer game.
JC: Yeah. I've been in France for about a month and a half now. This is just a stop before I go back home to Canada.
I actually wasn't planning on being in Paris on Friday but a few weeks ago I adjusted my plans. I came a couple of days early because its not everyday you get to see France vs Germany, even if it was just a friendly game.
PC: I have to say--I don't know you personally, but you sound like you might still be in shock.
JC: I personally never felt I was in extreme danger. There were certainly a couple of times at the end of the match and when we were leaving to catch a train into the city. It was pretty stressful. At one point everyone started rushing back into the stadium because it seemed like something was happening further down the road.
Otherwise, I think I'm calm because it hasn't sunk in yet really and it doesn't feel like it really affected me. I know that I was in a unique situation, there may not have been many Canadians at that game.
It's a mixture of feeling like I'm right in the middle of things but also like I'm removed.
PC: Where are you staying there?
JC: I'm staying in a hostel in the 19th arrondissement of the city. But on Friday when I finally got cell reception on my phone I got in touch with some of the people that I know in France and they said not to bother coming back to the hostel. So I ended up going and staying with my friend in Paris. We stayed there that first night then I went back to the hostel.
PC: Do you know if everyone from your hostel has been accounted for?
JC: I don't know but yesterday we were sitting around in one of the social rooms. That was very surreal. They came around with a clipboard and said, "Hey we just have to check that none of you people sitting at this table are on this list." And they just read off a list of people who were apparently still not accounted for. But that was yesterday and I haven't checked--
PC: People might have stayed elsewhere.
JC: Yeah.
PC: Josh, we're glad that you're safe and have a safe journey back to Canada.
JC: Thank you.