With Paris still reeling following the devastating terror attacks that left 129 dead and countless more injured, groups of bar and restaurant owners have taken a stand against terrorism as only the French know how.
On Tuesday, Parisians were urged to go out and patronize their local bars and cafes by a social media campaign called #TousAuBistrot ("everyone to the bar").
Instigated by French food blog and restaurant guide lefooding.com, the movement was started to honor the establishments bombed during the attacks and to help support the city's food and beverage industry as a whole, which is no doubt reeling from the events.
Hospitality is a huge part of the French economy. Speaking with The Verge, restaurant owner Jean Valfort said, "We're not like London, where you have finance and all these other industries. In Paris, it's just restaurants and hotels."
Didier Chenet a member of the restaurant organization SYNHORCAT told the AFP that many establishments were on board with the plan saying that, "It is important to say that we are going to keep on living."
"What the terrorists were targeting was what France represents. This is what was attacked on the night of November 13." Said French president Francois Hollande. "These barbarians targeted France's diversity. It was the youth of France who were targeted simply because they represent life."
The city is still under high alert as law enforcement officials' work around the clock to apprehend the perpetrators behind the attacks. French authorities were on the hunt the following morning, raiding a rumored hideout of the suspected ringleader in an operation that ended with eight detained, two dead and potentially more bloodshed thwarted.
According to the Telegraph, police are now trying to determine whether Isil mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud was among those killed in the operation.
