Paris attacks: Edgy French capital restarts on Monday amid grief and defiance

Parisians went back to work on Monday 16 November but it wasn't business as usual in the French capital after the attacks on Friday that left more than 120 people dead. Schools reopened after Saturday's closure and traffic filled the streets as usual during the morning rush hour but a heavy atmosphere weighed on the city, amid tight security measures.

Small crowds on their way to work gathered to pay tribute to the victims in Place de la Republique and other impromptu memorials near the sites of the attacks, where flowers and messages of grief and defiance to terror have been laid since the carnage of 13 November.

"It's not a normal Monday," said Zeher, 34, who works at a news kiosk metres from the Bataclan concert hall where 89 people where shot dead by a commando of Islamist militants during a rock concert. "You can tell from their faces that people are sad and tired from what happened at the weekend".

At a cafe nearby, every minute or two, customers and staff would shift their focus to a television hanging in the corner to check news updates on the developing situation.

"The atmosphere is very heavy," said Ophelia Metras, a 23-year-old, working at the bakery, the last shop left open before a police cordon off the Bataclan.

A manhunt was under way for members and accomplices of several groups of gunmen and suicide bombers that killed at total of 129 people in a series of attacks on bars and restaurants as well as at the Bataclan and the Stade de France.

France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls said authorities carried out more than 150 police raids overnight across the country as part of the investigation into the carnage.

Most Parisians interviewed by IBTimes UK said they were not afraid.

"Nothing has changed," said Cheikh Noba, an employee at a rent-a-car office near the Gare du Nord station. "Obviously we are sad for those who lost their lives but we have to show we will not be stopped. We'll keep on living despite the attacks."

However a scare in Place de La Republique on Sunday evening told a different story, that of a city on the edge. Hundreds of people fled a vigil in panic after the sound of firecrackers was mistaken for gunfire. A minute's silence is to be held nationwide at midday local time (11:00 GMT) on 16 November.