Paris: Exactly three weeks after the Paris terror attacks turned the Cafe Bonne Biere into a horrific murder scene, the restaurant is set to reopen its doors Friday in a bid to find “unity” and “move forward.”
Located on rue du Faubourg du Temple near Place de la Republique, the cafe will become the first restaurant hit by the bloody rampage to reopen, following the attacks that killed 130 people on November 13.
Five of the victims lost their lives outside the Cafe Bonne Biere.
In a brief message posted to their Facebook page, restaurant owners wrote simply: “It’s time for us to come together, united, move forward and to not forget, beginning this Friday, Dec. 4.”
News that the Cafe Bonne Biere will be opening its doors comes after managers of the Bataclan concert hall, where the deadliest attacks occurred, also pledged to re-open by the end of 2016. The band Eagles of Death Metal who had been playing the night of the attacks, also promised to finish their set at the concert hall when it opens its doors.
Meanwhile, earlier this week French Prime Minister Manuel Valls sought to reassure tourists that Paris is safe, amid reports of hotel and airline cancellations and
skittish nerves from visitors.
"Come to Paris, security conditions are assured," he said on Europe 1 radio, in a direct appeal to foreigners.
"Consume, it's a festive time, spend, live, go back to shows, to the cinema and theatre.”
The latest figures out of the Paris tourism office show that daily occupancy rates fell by 24 points in the week following the attacks, compared with a daily average rise of 2.4 points in the weeks preceding it.
Likewise, the office noted 21 percent more cancellations in airline reservations the week after the attacks, compared to the same week last year.
Owners of the Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge, also promised in a Facebook message to reopen, though an exact date was not provided.
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