Paris cafe reopens after terror attacks

A cafe where five people were killed by Islamic gunmen terrorising central Paris has reopened for business.

La Bonne Biere, a corner cafe in the trendy central Paris district targeted by the gunmen, opened early yesterday morning.

Since the attacks, the shuttered cafe has been piled high with flowers, like the other sites of the November 13 attacks, which left 130 people dead.

Paule Zlotnik, a neighboring shopkeeper, praised the decision: “It’s time they open and that we continue life as it was before.”

Two gunmen in black calmly approached La Bonne Biere that night, firing on the outdoor tables .

Yesterday, the manager, Audrey Bily, came out to address a crowd of journalists and television cameras.

“I would like to thank everyone who has supported us, for your poems, your messages and posts that have so helped us,” Bily said.

“What are we going to do to start again, to bounce back? We have carried out some work, and repainted the walls to wipe away the signs of this nightmare.

“The Bonne Biere cafe was a place where people met and exchanged and shared. That is what we want it to be again, today,” she said.

One of the customers having a coffee at the bar, David, 45, told AFP: “I need to feel that life is resuming. We mustn’t give in to fear. You have to fight.

“It feels good to be here, with people who go to the same cafe, the same flower shop, the same bakery.”

In the worst of the violence, other gunmen — including former Paris bus driver, Samy Amimour — killed 90 people as they attended a rock concert at the Bataclan concert hall.

On Wednesday, two of the Bataclan’s owners said they intended to have reopened the venue by the end of next year. Workers have also begun clearing away flowers from outside the Carillon bar and the Petit Cambodge restaurant, where 15 people were killed