FRENCH people living and working in Petersfield, and the town’s twinning friends, have spoken of their sadness and shock at the weekend’s terrorist attacks in Paris.

Maryse Le Bouette, who is twinning association president in Barentin, Normandy – Petersfield’s twinned town – was watching the France v Germany football match on TV on Friday night at home unaware of what horrors were unfolding. When it finished, she was aghast at the images that followed, with the Stade de France stadium targeted by suicide bombers.

“I was watching the match and after I couldn’t believe it was true,” said Maryse, who spent two days glued to the screen watching the horrific news from Paris.

She and her husband attended a candlelit vigil at Barentin town hall on Monday night. “We had to explain to our 15-year-old daughter who has grown up with the idea of the peaceful brotherhood that it’s war. A different kind of war, but it is war,” she said, “I hope that France will stay like it is. A beautiful country without racism.”

Chairman of Petersfield Twinning Association David Jeffrey, who lived in Paris for a year, has been phoning friends there to make sure they are safe.