Monday 11th May : Paris Lockdown is partially lifted
Yesterday, Monday 11th May, lockdown in France was partly lifted.I didn’t know what to expect.
Of course, it was a very cold and windy day.
During 2 months of quarantine the weather was unbelievably warm and sunny.
Monday was cold, rainy and windy.
Not really the kind of weather to take a walk and enjoy being outdoors.
This was not a normal day !
In fact, lots of people decided to ride their bikes around Paris.
Most of us (except if we had specific reasons like work or health issues) couldn’t go further than 1 km ( half a mile ) away from where we live during lockdown.
Now, we are allowed to 100 km ( 62 Miles )
Biking in Paris after Lockdown
I have been riding a bike in Paris since I was 16 years old, and I believe that it is the best way to see the city and discover its beautiful monuments, architecture and streets.
Great news : The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is making many noticeable changes around Paris : there are many bike lanes now, separated safely from the cars.
After the end of the lockdown on Paris, car mobility is even more restricted in the city (exceptions are made for taxis and Uber of course, they have a priority lane) and it is a temporary change which could become permanent for some areas like the Jewish Area of Paris
I really hope so, because the city needs to breath, and I personally love biking, and showing the city to my visitors during a Bike Tour of Paris.
The restaurants are not completely open
The restaurants and cafes can’t open until further notice, which means that they can’t receive clients indoors, but many of them already started the deliveries and take away services (some since the beginning or lockdown and others are just starting now).
One of them, l’As du falafel,is this famous falafel restaurant on Rue des Rosiers in the heart of the Jewish area in Paris.
They are open for take away, and organized the waiting line for social distancing.
The best falafel in Paris (some people say that they make better falafel than in Israel) is available again !
Yum ! We can expect the restaurants to open for real in June.
If you have been in France before, you probably know that tables are small and people are sitting very close to each other in most restaurants.
You can dine and talk with the neighbouring tables,and sometimes share salt and pepper, water or a conversation.
This is something that we are all very used to !
Parisians can’t wait anymore to go back to their old habits
After lockdown, when the restaurants and bars can welcome visitors again, tables will be pushed away and around :
Each table must have at least 1 meter distance in between
This is some intimacy that we are not used to in Parisians cafes and restaurants !
Parisians are used to sit next to each other and exchange some chit chat between strangers, sometimes even sharing the same table …
But I can say already that everybody will have the chance to taste a good Bordeaux wine with a creamy Camembert cheese and good bread, while sitting at the terrace of a Parisian bistro very soon !
Small museums will open in June, bigger ones like the Louvre and Orsay probably in July.
Fingers crossed !
Mona Lisa must feel very lonely, and just like me,she is probably missing her many curious visitors !
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