Is this a French thing?

Picture it: I'm at the train station yesterday morning, waiting for my chunnel back to London to fly home. Waiting, and waiting. All of a sudden, there was a huge explosion. Apparently there was an unattended bag left in the station, and so they blew it up. Um, what? Do they do this in America? Not sure I understand the logic behind it - what if it WAS a bomb? Wouldn't blowing it up kind of defeat the purpose and cause the bomb to explode anyway?

Regardless, Paris was amazing. I might write a book on how to see it in 24 hours. Because that's basically what I did. The Eiffel Tower, a cruise down the Seine, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomph, Saint Germain des Pres...and finished it off with a mani/pedi. Seriously considered asking for a FRENCH manicure...but is that just a manicure over there??