What started as a dream honeymoon for 2005 Northwestern Lehigh graduate Amanda Parry soon became a nightmare when Muslim extremists attacked several locations in Paris on Nov. 13.

Amanda and her new husband, Brandon Michael Benner, were married Oct. 31 in the Rainbow Room, at the top of Rockefeller Plaza, in New York City.

Following the wedding, the couple departed on a 12-day European vacation, spending six days in London.

Then, it was off to Paris for another six days in the City of Light.

“We were at dinner when the first bomb went off at the stadium (Stade de France),” Amanda told The Press.

She said the hotel where she and her husband were staying, the Hotel Lancaster, was about 2 miles away from the subsequent attack on the Bataclan concert hall, where the California band, Eagles of Death Metal, were performing.

“We knew about the attack when we returned to the hotel,” Amanda explained. “We were using Wi-Fi on the phone.

“Family and friends were texting us via Wi-Fi.”

She said hotel staff told the couple the explosion at the stadium was a prank between rival teams.

“We said that was definitely not the case,” Amanda explained. “It was serious. We had been watching CNN.com on our phone.”

Soon, the bartender told hotel guests the explosion was not a prank and the hotel was on lockdown.

“They let us sit at the bar, then we went upstairs to our room,” Amanda said. “They locked the front doors and the double doors.

“There was really no concern of people walking in and shooting.”

As the ISIS attacks continued, Amanda’s mother, Northwestern Press columnist Karen Jensen Parry, and Amanda’s father, Len, remained in communication with their daughter via email.

Karen Parry sent the following email to her daughter at 7:02 p.m. Nov. 13.

“Dad just checked on the Embassy and he said people that go there cannot take any electronic devices, cell phones, etc. or any luggage or back packs.

“You can only take yourself and the clothes on your body! Let us know of any plans that you make.

“Otherwise, we will think you are still at Hotel Lancaster. Be careful and stay brave! Everything will be okay! xo.”

“What could the Embassy really do?” Amanda told The Press. “We couldn’t take anything with us.

“I wanted to go to the airport.”

Amanda said they were scared while in their room, wondering if the hotel would be bombed.

“We got our passports from the safe and put money in our pockets, in case we had to run,” she explained.

Their prepaid car service was scheduled to pick up the couple and take them to the airport around 7 a.m. the next morning, Nov. 14.

They wondered if the driver would show up as CNN was saying the borders were closed.

The couple finally rested around 4 a.m. but awoke an hour later and the hotel phone service was not working.

Brandon went downstairs and was told the hotel did not know why there was a problem with the phone system, Amanda said.

The driver did arrive to take the couple to the airport.

“We did not have anymore Euros, only dollars,” said Amanda, adding she wanted to stop at an ATM machine to get money. “Nobody was out. It was a ghost town.

“This was our third time in Paris and I have never before seen it like that.”

The couple safely arrived at the airport.

“Security was insane,” Amanda said. We were interrogated three times - before we got the tickets, when we got the tickets and before we got on the plane.

“They asked if we trusted each other, the person who packed our bags and if anyone touched my curling iron or hairdryer.”

Thankfully, the couple arrived safely at JFK Airport around noon Saturday, Nov. 14.

“It is horrible the attacks put a damper on our returning to Paris in the future,” Amanda said. “It was serious. We were very fearful. If something would have happened (at the hotel) we would have had to run.

“My heart goes out to everybody who was affected.”