Paris : A Paris bar where five people were killed by jihadist gunmen in the November 13 attacks is set to defiantly re-open tomorrow, in what promises to be an emotional step in the city’s struggle to regain normality.
People were sipping their drinks on an unusually mild November evening in the French capital when the terraces of La Bonne Biere and the Casa Nostra restaurant opposite were sprayed with bullets.
A few steps away from the Casa Nostra, the front of La Bonne Biere has been hastily repaired and tarpaulin covers the ground as the owners prepare to return to business as – almost – usual.
With memories of the night of terror still raw, local residents have mixed feelings. “It’s a good thing that it’s opening up again, but there will still be an awful lot of memories here,” said Valentine, 29, who has been passing by La Bonne Biere every morning and evening since the attacks, sometimes lighting a candle in memory of the victims.
“There’s a wound here that can’t be healed,” said Aliette, whose friend lost a son at another of the bars targeted, La Belle Equipe. Nineteen people were killed there. Unlike La Bonne Biere, it remains firmly shuttered.
