Parisians mark a year after the attacks: 'Normally there is joie de vivre − life will never be the same'

One year ago, coordinated terror attacks across Paris killed 130 people and injured hundreds. In the space of minutes, armed attackers stormed six locations in the French capital, including bars and restaurants, the Stade de France and the Bataclan music venue.

On the anniversary of the attacks, Parisians spoke to IBTimes UK about the events of 13 November 2015 and how it has changed their city.

Outside the Carillon and the Petit Cambodge, a cafe and a restaurant in the 10th arrondissement, Gungor says there is a prevailing sense of sadness in the city. Both cafes were besieged during the attacks last year.

"I have been living in Paris for 26 years. Thirty minutes before the attack, I was here because I live just nearby and then I went back home and saw what was happening," he says. "It hurts because I come once or twice a week to have coffee or a beer here, so you think it could have been me if I had not been home − I was there half an hour before.

"It can happen to anyone and they were all innocent. One year later, we are still sad. Everyone is sad in Paris. Normally there is this joie de vivre, and now everyone is dead for nothing."

Roane, who has lived in Paris for two years, says he was at home when the attacks took place.

"It was terrible, atrocious. Life in Paris had been so beautiful until then, and then it was as if Paris was fixed in time," he says.

"One year later, it still feels weird to come back here where it happened and I hope Paris won't have to go through this again. It took months for people to get back on their feet, but there is still this ghost of a possible attack."

Isabelle and Christine, who have lived in the French capital for over 60 years, say they know the Carillon and the Petit Cambodge very well and were horrified when they realised the popular, bohemian area was under attack.

"I was also at my home and I have children that are the same age as the people in the music venue − we were shocked," Christine says. "Life in Paris the next day was dead. It was a dead city. And over the week, people were looking at each other thinking: 'Do you have a gun? Are you behaving normally?' And then as usual life started back again, stronger but with that sense of being carefree forgotten.

"It will take many generations to forget, that carefreeness, that lightness that we once had and that we lost. One year is not that much, it will take generations to move on, just like after wars."

Isabelle adds: "We can't forget and when people say they're not afraid, I disagree. People are afraid."