Sunny skies in Paris; hearts full of grief

PARIS  – The shining sun and warm Paris air felt cruelly incongruous as France entered three days of mourning for 129 people killed because they went out on a Friday night.

Streets, parks and stores were unusually empty Sunday for such a mild, clear day, and several city monuments were closed because of security reasons or to express their grief.

Some Parisians and tourists defied the high security, walking past heavily armed soldiers in body armor to take pictures beneath the Eiffel Tower.

Survivors who endured two hours of being held hostage by suicide bombers at the Bataclan concert hall, initially silent after the ordeal, have started sharing their memories. Julien Pearce, journalist at Europe 1 radio, says “it took me few seconds to realize it was gunshots.”

Pearce and his friends crawled into a tiny dark room next to the stage where he could see one of the assailants. He says “he seemed very young. That’s what struck me: his childish face, very determined, cold, calm, frightening.”