Paris cafe reopens two months after attacks

Le Carillon, a popular cafe and bar near the Canal Saint Martin, has been the site of impromptu memorials since the shootings. Murals have adorned its walls and flags have been strung up in the streets around the cafe after the attacks which claimed altogether 130 lives.

The bar was one of some six cafes and restaurants targeted. The extremist group "Islamic State" claimed responsibility for the attacks. Another bar, A La Bonne Biere, reopened its doors in December.

The band Eagles of Death Metal, whose performance was cut short by attackers who stormed the Bataclan concert hall and killed 90 people, has scheduled a return performance in February in Paris.

Paris tourism took a hit in the weeks following the violence. State statistics agency Insee said hotel occupancy in the French capital dropped by 25 percent in the two weeks that followed the attacks, compared to November 2014. Parisian hotels - that usually have no vacancy during Christmas and the New Year celebrations - saw their activity drop by 30 to 40 percent at the end of the year. Museum attendance also suffered. Visitors at the Louvre decreased by seven percent and Versailles palace lost four percent visitors in 2015.

A group of 20 companies involved in France's tourism sector have launched an online campaign inviting people to share pictures with the hashtag #Parisweloveyou. In coming weeks, a giant hashtag sculpture covered by the mosaic of photos will be placed at a symbolic Parisian site. The precise location remains secret.

ak/eg (dpa, AP)