Αssociated Press reports from France that Paris is rediscovering its joie de vivre, as cafes and restaurants reopen for the first time since the fast-spreading coronavirus forced them to close their doors on March 14.
Numerous customers seemed to shrug off masks and social distancing as they streamed back to their neighborhood bistros for a morning espresso or a three-course lunch Monday, free to resume their lifestyles by a surprise announcement from the French president himself.
“We will rediscover … the art of living, our taste for freedom,” President Emmanuel Macron announced in a televised address to the nation Sunday night, citing progress in fighting the virus. “We will rediscover France.”
Following two months of being totally shut down as part of France’s strict virus lockdown measures, restaurants outside the Paris region opened earlier this month. Since June 2, Paris cafes have been allowed to serve people outside but not open their doors. Before Macron’s speech, the full reopening wasn’t expected until later this month.
The reopening Monday caught many restaurant owners off guard — just like the abrupt closure three months ago, when the prime minister announced at 8 p.m. on a Saturday that all the country’s restaurants had to close down by midnight.
Paris seemed particularly depressing as restaurants, the lifeblood of the city, stood shuttered, chairs stacked against the windows, menus gathering dust.
After three months of losses, some restaurateurs fear it will take a long time for business to come back. Some French restaurants are experimenting with plastic barriers and air-filtration systems to calm fears. The risk of a second wave of infections remains real, notably after new virus clusters in some countries and U.S. states were traced back to reopened restaurants or other sites.
Read the full report at thenationalherald.com
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