Mourners have been laying flowers and candles opposite the Bataclan concert hall ahead of a show by Sting to mark one year since the Paris terrorist attacks.
The former Police frontman, 65, is reopening the 150-year-old venue, in a fashionable district of the French capital, where 89 people were killed on November 13 last year.
There is a police presence outside the theatre and press are set up across the street ahead of the star’s show.
Natalie Hugon, 45, who works in Cannes, was among mourners laying flowers at a growing shrine.
She said her 22-year-old son ran for his life when crowds celebrating Bastille Day were attacked in Nice in July, hiding for two hours in a bar to protect himself.
“It was the most awful night of my life,” Hugon told the Press Association.
“I want peace in the world,” she said.
Leslie Podevin, 31, from Nantes, is in Paris for the weekend with her friend and friend’s mother who walked away in tears.
The trio laid flowers and Podevin said: “We came here because we think it’s important.
“We want to remember this day. When we saw the date we thought we have to come here and do something.”
Islamic extremist suicide bombers – Frenchmen Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29, Samy Amimour, 28, and Foued Mohamed-Aggad, 23 – stormed into the concert hall as US rock band Eagles Of Death Metal performed, while attackers also targeted cafes and the Stade de France. In total 130 people died, including Briton Nick Alexander.
Alexander had been on tour with the American band selling merchandise, and tried to play dead when he was approached by one of the gunmen who opened fire.
Sting said: “In reopening the Bataclan, we have two important tasks to reconcile. First, to remember and honour those who lost their lives in the attack a year ago, and second, to celebrate the life and the music that this historic theatre represents.
“In doing so we hope to respect the memory as well as the life-affirming spirit of those who fell. We shall not forget them.”
All revenue from the show will be donated to Life For Paris and 13 Novembre: Fraternite Verite.
The Bataclan will play host to two gigs by Libertines frontman Pete Doherty, on November 16 and 17, while Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour will play on November 18 and 19.
