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Paris 2015 terror attacks: What happened

As the trial begins into the 2015 terror attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, we look back at what happened on the night of November 13th.

Paris 2015 terror attacks: What happened
Photo: Stephane du Sakatin/AFP

It was France’s worst post-war atrocity, a combined suicide-bombing and gun assault carried out by three teams of jihadists and planned in Syria.

Here’s what happened on that mild Friday evening in November.

READ ALSO Historic trial begins in Paris over 2015 terror attacks

Stade de France

The attack began at France’s national stadium, the Stade de France in the northern suburbs of the city.

Then-president François Hollande was among the crowd watching a football friendly in which France took on Germany.

Between 9.20pm and 9.52pm, three suicide bombers blow themselves up at the gates to the stadium.

Manuel Colaco Dias, a 63-year-old Portuguese bus driver and long-term resident of France, was killed.

Hollande, one of the 80,000-strong crowd watching the match, was discreetly evacuated from the stadium to avoid triggering a mass panic among supporters, most of whom were initially unaware of what had happened.

10th and 11th arrondissements

As the explosions went off at the Stade de France, gunmen opened fire in the trendy 10th and 11th arrondissements of Paris.

The unusually warm night saw many people sitting outside on café terraces enjoying meals and drinks.

A group of black-clad gunmen riding in a black Seat car sprayed bullets at the terraces.

In a deadly half-hour 39 people were gunned down by assault rifles.

Le Petit Cambodge restaurant and Carillon bar near Saint-Martin canal were the first to come under attack at 9.25 pm, followed by the Bonne Bière café, the Casa Nostra pizzeria and the Belle Equipe restaurant.

At another bar, Le Comptoir Voltaire, one of the gunmen blew himself up, but no one else was killed.

Bataclan

Two kilometres away at the Bataclan music hall, a 1,500-strong crowd were enjoying a concert by American rock group Eagles of Death Metal.

At 9.40pm a black Volkswagen Polo with Belgian number plates drew up outside the venue. Three men got out, guns in their hands and wearing explosives belts.

The song Kiss the Devil was in full flow when the gunmen broke into the main hall and started shooting into the crowd.

The bloodbath lasted more than three hours and left 90 people dead.

Shortly before 10pm a police officer entered the building and fired at one of the gunmen who had remained downstairs, blowing up his suicide device.

The two other gunmen were holding hostage a dozen people upstairs, telling them they were from the Islamic State group.

Both gunmen were killed when elite security forces put an end to the assault at 12.18am. One of the men blew himself up while the other was shot dead.

The chase

As Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and Hollande addressed the nation on TV, saying simply: “It is a horror”, police began a massive manhunt to track down the attackers who were still at large. 

After four days of police activity, the two surviving café attackers were tracked down in Saint-Denis, a suburb to the north of Paris, on November 18th. Both died in the ensuing police shootout – one was shot and the other blew himself up. Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian national and the suspected mastermind of the attacks, was one of the two.

Four months later the only surviving attacker, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in Brussels in March 2016. He was found hiding in a building close to his family home. His role in the attacks is still unclear, but he is believed to have driven the Stade de France attackers. Police also believe he was originally intended to take part in another attack in the north of the city, which never happened.

The trial

A trial of 20 suspects began in Paris on September 8th, 2021. Thirteen of the defendants are present in court with the other six tried in abstentia – five of them are believed to have been killed in airstrikes in Syria over the past seven years while the sixth is in a Turkish prison.

Only one of the attackers is still alive – Belgian-born Salah Abdeslam. The other nine attackers either detonated their explosive belts or were killed by police.

The others are charged with either being involved in the planning of the attacks, aiding the attackers or providing weapons, or helping Abdeslam while he was on the run from the police.

Over the course of the trial, nearly 1,800 victims, either injured or witnesses to the carnage that night, or who lost loved ones, will be present. The trial is expected o last until May 2022.

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PARIS

Travel deals to take advantage of as prices drop ahead of Paris Olympics

After many warnings about expensive travel and booked-up hotels in France this summer during the Olympic Games, prices have begun to drop as the event nears, with some bargains to be had.

Travel deals to take advantage of as prices drop ahead of Paris Olympics

After some soaring prices earlier in the year, costs for both accommodation and travel are now back to roughly seasonal norms.

In certain cases, train and plane tickets have fallen well below their summer averages.

As for lodging, the French press has reported that occupancy rates at Paris hotels are “gradually falling” as the event approaches, with many hotels and Airbnbs available. 

What’s going on?

Around 15 million people are expected to visit Paris between late July and early September – considerably more than the 6.2 to 6.4 million visitors who came between July and August in 2023 or the roughly 10 million summer visitors Paris saw in pre-pandemic days.

As such, many predicted that prices would skyrocket ahead of the Olympic Games, but there are a few other factors to consider aside from large volumes of tourists.

A survey in March 2024 found that almost half of Parisians planned on leaving the city during the Games period. On top of that, over half (64 percent) of Olympics tickets were sold to French people, many of whom are planning to stay with friends and relatives in the capital and thus have not booked accommodation.

As of late May, almost half of the French ticket holders had not reserved any hotels or Airbnbs during the Olympic period.

Many property owners in the capital also listed their homes on Airbnb with the hopes of earning some extra money during the Games. However, this led to an over-saturation of the market. 

French daily Le Monde reported that there were more than 145,000 properties on offer on Airbnb during the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, compared with 65,000 in normal times.

When it comes to hotels, UK online newspaper The Independent reported that hotel occupancy rates are expected to be “between 60 and 70 percent during the Games.”

The deals to look out for

Eurostar

According to reporting by The Independent, Eurostar tickets during the Olympics have declined by 11 percent in the last two weeks alone. The UK online newspaper found that the average Eurostar ticket price had dropped by €30 (or £26).

At the time of writing, The Local found that the cheapest one-way tickets on the day of the Opening Ceremony (July 26th) were €126, dropped to €112 the following day. 

For a round trip ticket from July 26th to August 2nd, the lowest price was €169 – around average for the summer holiday period.

Flights

If you are flying from the UK, as of mid-June, Google Flights placed London-Paris flights in the ‘Typical’ price range. The cheapest round-trip tickets were with budget airline Vueling, at €139 for one week (July 26th to August 2nd).

However, flights from other cities in the UK were significantly cheaper, particularly if you are willing to change the dates slightly. 

For example, five-day (July 29th to August 2nd) round-trip tickets from Bristol from cost €99 with Easyjet, and one-week (July 27 to August 3) round-trip tickets with Ryanair from Belfast cost €59.

For those flying from the US, prices had dropped significantly for a 10-day trip (July 26th to August 5th) from NYC to Paris, when compared with December 2023.

At the time, tickets were in Google Flights’ seasonal norms with average prices around €821. However, as of mid-June the same round-trip tickets were available for as low as €523. 

The flight planning tool also ranked tickets during the Olympic period between LA and Paris as ‘low’ compared to seasonal norms.

Hotels and accommodation

As mentioned above, there were still many hotel options still available in and around Paris as of mid-June. 

At the time of writing, Airbnb offered over 1,000 options for the first week of the Games, with options around €150 for an entire apartment for two people in central Paris, and possibilities closer to €230 for a family of four. 

When it comes to hotels, many were still above seasonal norms, but prices were lower than initial estimates.

For example, in December the Paris deputy mayor in charge of tourism Frédéric Hocquard had estimated that the average price of one night in a hotel in Paris would be €699 during the Olympic Games, compared with €169 in July 2023, an increase of 314 percent. 

At the time of writing websites such as Booking.com and Kayak still had several rooms available for around €200 per night. 

Other costs

Those visiting during the Games will also pay a higher price for public transport.

Between July 20th and September 8th, the price of a single ticket – which can be used on the Metro, buses, RER trains or trams – will go up to €4, in contrast to the €2.10 it costs currently, and purchasing a 10 tickets at once (a carnet) will increase from €16.90 to €32 during the Games.

This does not affect residents with a travel pass or monthly card, or people who buy tickets in advance.

READ MORE: How to avoid public transport price hikes during Olympics

Are Olympics tickets still available?

Yes. While many have already secured tickets, there are still opportunities on the official resale platform – full details HERE. Games organisers are also releasing a limited number of new tickets every Thursday on the official ticket platform here.

Meanwhile there are ticket available for the Paralympics via the ticketing website here.

The Olympics/Paralympics website is the only official channel for ticket sales, so you should be extremely cautious about any tickets offered for sale on any other websites or forums. 

But should I visit Paris during the Olympics?

If you were hoping for a last-minute Olympics trip then this is very much still on the table.

But if you want to enjoy a more typical tourist visit, you should expect larger than normal crowds and you should be prepared to reserve early. You should also keep in mind that there will be security zones across the city, as many of the matches and events are taking place in central Paris.

READ MORE: Paris Olympics QR codes – your questions answered

Eiffel tower – Be aware that the Tower is close to a Games venue. It will remain open during the Olympics period apart from the day of the Opening Ceremony (July 26th). However between July 18th and July 25th the Tower is in a security zone so you will require a QR code to enter – more info here. From July 27th onwards no QR code will be required for visitors – the Tower will be in a red zone, which has restrictions on vehicles, but which pedestrians can enter freely.

Louvre – During the Olympic Games, the Louvre will remain open to visitors, except for July 25th and 26th. However, all visitors from July 1st to September 8th must book a ticket ahead of time. As for the Tuileries Garden, it will be closed on August 28th and throughout the Games it will be in a security zone, meaning vehicular traffic will be severely limited – although pedestrians can still access it.

You can find more info about Olympics related disruption/changes for the Louvre HERE.

Versailles – The château, as well as the gardens will remain open to the public throughout the Games, with normal visiting hours.

The rest of France

Just because you’re taking a train or a plane to Paris, it doesn’t mean that you have to stay there – the capital is connected to all of France’s major cities – Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon and more – by high-speed TGV trains, as well as many smaller cities and towns. 

Of the millions of people who visit France each year, 80 percent of them visit sites within just 20 percent of the country; largely Paris, the Riviera and certain well-known Alpine towns.

However, there are many other options – here is our guide to off-the-beaten-track places.

READ MORE: 19 alternative places to visit in France to avoid the crowds

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