`Paparazzi' party as Parisians lay flowers near tunnel in final farewell gesture to Diana

The people of Paris said their own farewell to Princess Diana with flowers, tears and an acute grief in the city where she died…

The people of Paris said their own farewell to Princess Diana with flowers, tears and an acute grief in the city where she died. On Saturday, crowds gathered at Pont d'Alma, the tunnel where a week before the car carrying Diana and and her companion, Mr Dodi al-Fayed, had crashed. As midday neared and the funeral began in London, Paris motorists slowed as they entered the underpass as a sign of respect.

A Union Flag had been draped across the entrance of the tunnel with the words: "Diana, rest in peace" beneath it.

Flowers, candles and soft toys from people across the world had been laid by the roadside, and more were brought as the day wore on.

At the Ritz Hotel it was business as usual. But a bowl of pink-and-white roses was placed on a table in the middle of an elegant sitting-room.

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Beneath the arrangement, a small card explained: "On August 30th such a bouquet was presented by Dodi Fayed to the Princess of Wales."

There were no other tributes to either Dodi or the princess at the hotel where they had spent their last few hours. On Saturday, a dozen guests sat in a room off the lobby and watched her funeral on an outsized television.

Several people wandered briefly into the room, lined with rows of empty seats, while a few sat in silence and watched proceedings broadcast from London. Requiem hymns wafted through the hotel's narrow lobby.

In Montmartre, there is a paparazzi bar tucked into a side alley off the rue Jeoffroy Marie, not far from where many Irish visitors stay.

A bright blue neon sign designates it for those who care to find it.

It is the favourite watering hole of some of the paparazzi and of the many young men who travel around the city on their powerful motorbikes.

While the British people were calling for the heads of the paparazzi, during the week, there was no great sign of shame or sorrow among that bar's clientele.

Throughout most of last week, while they and their trade were vilified, they partied loud and long to heavy rock music well into the autumn nights.

The few reporters and TV crews who came seeking their stories left empty-handed.

During the funeral, the door remained wide open and the festivities continued.

For a people who, not so long ago dispensed with their own royals, Parisians are obsessed with the tragic love story which ended in the underpass beside the Seine.

Thousands flocked with the tourists to the site of the crash and photographed the scene with its now famous scarred concrete pillar.

Some prayed there on Saturday at noon beside the bouquets of flowers which bore messages of sympathy from people all over the world; and of course from the Parisians themselves.

As the ceremony was relayed to millions worldwide, the English pubs in the city were packed.

On the streets, people watched the ceremony in TV shop windows and throughout the centre of the city, cafes and bars had brought in television sets especially for the occasion.

But life goes on. Already the accident is creating its own tourist industry.

Parisian taxi drivers are offering a new tour - a drive from the Ritz to the scene of the crash.

The Tour Diana ends up at the Concorde, ironically where the French in their own time rid their country of their own royalty.