France is preparing to commemorate on Thursday the 10-year anniversary of the November 13, 2015 Paris terror attacks by Islamic State extremists that killed 132 people and injured more than 400.

On that fateful day, a cell of nine IS supporters, armed with automatic rifles and explosive vests, carried out attacks across the French capital.

French President Emmanuel Macron will attend a special ceremony to pay tribute to all the victims of the attacks that targeted the Bataclan concert venue, terraces of bars and restaurants, and France’s national stadium.

Survivors and families will also attend the commemoration that will take place in a new garden in memory of the victims.

Arthur Denouveaux was at the concert of the Californian rock band Eagles of Death Metal at the Bataclan on the night of the attacks.

At 9:47 p.m., three gunmen burst into the Bataclan, firing indiscriminately.

Ninety people died.

Denouveaux managed to escape when he heard the first gun shots, crawling towards the nearest emergency exit door.

“I remember crawling on top of bodies. I believe most of the people were pretending to be dead, they were not dead, but still,” he told The Associated Press.

Denouveaux, who is president of the victims’ association Life for Paris, has made a point of telling his story for the past ten years, talking to media, writing books, so what happened on that night in Paris is not forgotten.

But, as the anniversary date looms, it revives distressing memories for the father of three young girls, aged 2, 4 and 6.

“The 10th anniversary is here, and emotions and tension is everywhere for us survivors. That kind of shields us from the world in a way, because we're so focused on the grief and on remembering those who lost their lives, that we live in that kind of small bubble,” he explained.

“I would say the hardest part is November 14th, when you have to get back to normal life somehow and the grief is still here, but the bond is a little more distant," he added.

A garden of remembrance located by Paris City Hall, that celebrated the life of those who died and those who survived, will be officially inaugurated during Thursday’s commemoration ceremony.

The site, conceived with the contribution of survivors and relatives of people who died on that day, evokes the six sites of the attacks, with the names of the victims engraved on steles dispatched all around.

A symbolic olive tree has been planted by the entry of the memorial garden.

AP video by Nicolas Garriga

Production by Catherine Gaschka and Jeff Schaeffer