AZ family travels Europe; speaks out about Paris attack

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Brandon Jolley and his wife Katie left their east valley life behind and began the journey of a lifetime.

"So we sold everything, it took us about a year to get everything finalized, and we left in September," said Brandon Jolley.

They snapped a photo at Sky Harbor Airport just before they left. They spent some time in Ireland and England before arriving in Paris about two weeks ago. The night of the attacks, they had just put their three kids to sleep when they realized something had happened.

"We just hear ambulance after ambulance, and police car after police car, and military vehicles passing by going to the scene. They instituted a mandatory curfew, and it was literally the next 2 1/2 days we were in the apartment the entire time," said Brandon.

But soon they were able to continue exploring the city, even snapping photos of the Eifel Tower lit up in the colors of the French Flag. Days after the attack, things got back to normal.

"Before the attacks, like at the Eifel Tower you'd see 2-3 military personnel with assault rifles. Now everywhere you go at the Metro Station there's typically 2 or 3," said Brandon.

His family are documenting their travels on Facebook and their own website.

"When we set out we had a couple of goals. One was that my kids would realize that life is more about experiences and the relationships you have, and the other is that they would grow and be more expressive," said Brandon.

Soon the family will head to a small town in France. Brandon says immediately after the attacks; Paris felt similar to how things felt in America after 9/11.