After 6 months, French can enjoy cafes, cinemas again
A waiter holds a cup on a tray in the tourist district of Montmartre in Paris yesterday. Restaurant and bar terraces reopened at 50 percent capacity for groups of up to six.
The French on Wednesday joyfully made their way back to cafes and prepared long-awaited visits to cinemas and museums as the country loosened restrictions in a return to semi-normality after over six months of COVID-19 curbs.
Cafes and restaurants with terraces or rooftop gardens can now offer outdoor dining, under the second phase of a lockdown-lifting plan that should culminate in a full reopening of the economy on June 30.
Museums, cinemas and theaters are also reopening after being closed for more than six months, during which they relied chiefly on state aid to remain afloat.
Across Paris, cafes and restaurants had in the past few days prepared for the return by setting out outdoor dining areas and the first customers were already sipping their morning espressos.
The establishments have been closed since October 30, when France entered its second lockdown to beat the coronavirus.
“I already had three customers come drink their coffees. It feels good,” said Pascal who manages the Saint Jean brasserie in the Montmartre district. “What a change from getting take-away coffee at the bakery!” said one of the customers, Cyril.
In the western city of Rennes, Patricia Marchand, the manager of the Cafe des Feuilles, said she had reservations even for aperitifs. “It feels good. There is a sense of euphoria in the city center.”
But with the weather service forecasting showers across much of the country — possibly even snow in the Alps — and most venues allowed to use only half their outdoor seating, some of the 40 percent of restaurants that have a terrace are expected to take a rain check on reopening.
A night-time curfew that was pushed back two hours to 9pm from yesterday could also put a damper on the revelry, with dining limited to six per table.
Stephanie Mathey, owner of three Paris bistros, said she was treating this stage of the reopening as a dress rehearsal for the summer.
“Like a diesel engine, we’ll be warming up slowly,” she said.
On June 9, restaurants will be allowed serve indoors, followed by a further easing of measures on June 30 when the curfew will be fully lifted.
The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care fell to 4,250 on Monday, down from around 6,000 a month ago. And the number of cases per 100,000 people in a week has fallen to 142, down from 400 in early April.
