Paris attacks: France remembers victims as President Hollande says 'They have a cult of death but we have love'

Mr Hollande’s speech has been hailed afterwards as a model of balance: sombre but determined; lyrical, but not over-blown

French President Francois Hollande, right, attends a ceremony to honor the 130 victims killed in the 13 November attacks (AP)

It may have been François Hollande’s finest hour. In a 16-minute speech at Les Invalides today – written while jetting around the world – he achieved something that he has rarely achieved in his three years in the Elysée Palace. He spoke for the nation.

“A horde of murderers killed 130 of our people and wounded hundreds, in the name of a crazy cause and in the name of a God that they betrayed,” Mr Hollande said. “They have a cult of death but we… we have love - the love of life.”

The national ceremony of homage to the victims of the 13 November terrorist attacks in Paris was Mr Hollande’s idea. Nothing like it has happened before. The occasion had to be invented.

It could not be a religious ceremony because France is a fiercely secular state. It could not be a military ceremony, even though it took place in the courtyard of Les Invalides where France has long honoured its military heroes

Francois Hollande attends The National Tribute to The Victims of The Paris Terrorist Attacks at Les Invalides (Getty)

Mr Hollande devised instead a secular ceremony of remembrance for what he called the “martyrs” of a new kind of war – a war in which a restaurant or a rock concert hall can abruptly become the front line.

“These men, these women symbolised joy of living,” he said. “They were killed because of where they happened to be and (because of who they were), the youth of a people which enjoys life and honours culture.”

The names of 129 of the 130 victims were solemnly read out. One family had objected to their loved one being included. Photographs of most of the victims were displayed on a giant screen. Several families refused to provide images.

More than 1,000 relatives and close friends of the dead – and many wounded victims well enough to go along – formed a phalanx of grief along one side of the courtyard. Two families refused to attend because they blamed Mr Hollande, and politicians in general, for not preventing the attacks.

A haunting song by Jacques Brel - Quand on n’a que l’amour (when you only have love) – was performed by three pop singers, Camélia Jordana, Yael Naim and Nolwenn Leroy. The French army choir sang the Marseillaise

President Hollande was clearly fighting back tears at one stage. The former Socialist presidential candidate Ségolène Royal seemed to be crying throughout.

Mr Hollande’s speech was hailed afterwards, even by political opponents and the conservative press, as a model of balance: sombre but determined; lyrical, but not over-blown.

“Those who fell on 13 November were France, the whole of France,” he said. “One hundred and thirty lives torn away, 130 destinies mown down, 130 ways of laughing that we will never hear again, 130 voices silenced forever.”

He pledged that Isis would be destroyed. Without naming names, he rejected the calls of some right-wing politicians (including ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy) for France to revert to an “eternal” past in which all cultural differences would be suppressed.

“We will not yield to fear or hatred,” Mr Hollande said. “If anger possesses us, we will harness it in the service of liberty… Freedom cannot be avenged, it can only be served. The patriotism that we are expressing today has nothing to do with rejection of others.”

After almost a week locked down under maximum security alert, Brussels yesterday decided not to cancel Christmas - or at least, its annual Winter Wonders fair. The event, which takes place along one and a half miles of streets and squares with 250 seasonal stalls, ice rinks, carousels and big wheels, formally opened yesterday and runs until 3 January.

Belgian authorities lowered their terror threat alert from the top level four to three on Thursday.