France marked two years Monday since its worst ever terror attacks, releasing colourful balloons into the sky to remember the 130 people killed on a Friday night out in Paris. President Emmanuel Macron laid wreaths at the six locations where gunmen and suicide bombers struck on November 13, 2015, targeting the national stadium as well as bars, restaurants and the Bataclan concert hall.
Two members of Eagles of Death Metal - the Californian band who were on stage at the Bataclan when the carnage began - performed a surprise mini-concert near the venue where 90 people were massacred. Lead singer Jesse Hughes was visibly moved as he handed white roses to families of the victims after singing "Save a Prayer", the song the band had just finished playing when the gunfire began.
"It is difficult to not to remember the people who were taken from us like our friend Nick Alexander (the band's merchandise manager) and so many others," Hughes told reporters. "We watched people give their lives for their friends and we were able to bear witness to that," he added.
"We have a burden of responsibility to make certain that everyone knows that is the kind of love that exists in this world." Macron and his wife Brigitte joined relatives of the victims as they released dozens of multi-coloured balloons in honour of the dead. "I've never been back inside," said a Bataclan survivor who gave his name only as Patrice. "But it's important to come, for all the victims - those who did not come out alive, and all the injured."