France won the FIFA World Cup on Sunday after defeating Croatia (File)
Striking images of World Cup celebrations at a Paris bar targeted in the deadly November 2015 attacks ricocheted around social media Monday, potent symbols of France's resolve to not live in fear despite a persistent terror threat.
At the Carillon bar in eastern Paris, fans crowd surfed and barmen sprayed champagne as "Les Bleus" closed in on their victory.
It was a welcome celebration for a country still reeling from the massacre of 130 people enjoying a Friday night out three years ago, one of a wave of attacks which have claimed nearly 250 victims.
"To be world champions here, it's a symbol," said Benoit Bardet, a young IT consultant who is "not especially a football fan", told AFP outside the Carillon.
"Coming here with my mates was a way of remembering, and to show that Paris won't die," he said.
The drinks flowed in a sea of blue, white and red, the national colours on jerseys and flags being waved with abandon.
Many saw the World Cup victory as a chance to reverse the country's fortunes and help ease tensions, in particular in deprived urban areas where large immigrant communities often complain of being treated as second-class citizens.
"Seeing everyone all together in the street, it's mad," Ludovic Guaignant, a technician wearing an Antoine Griezmann shirt, told AFP outside the bar.
"There aren't any more problems, racism -- everyone's together. You only get that with football."
Emma Passama, her shoulders draped in a blue, white and red garland, also felt it was her symbolic duty to come and celebrate here as a patron of the Carillon bar.
"They have lost clients since the attacks, so this is a way of supporting them," she said.
"Plus, we aren't getting stepped on like in the (Champ de Mars) fan zone!"
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)