"What are drinks, chef?"
»8:15 pm, Tuesday January 19, in this fast-food restaurant in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, more than two hours after the time to draw the curtain, it is difficult to clearly define the curfew.
Six patrons line up with randomly worn masks to order or pick up their inexpensive burger menus.
The boss slips that he closes at 10 pm, between two arrivals of delivery men by bike or scooter.
In theory, only this type of sale is allowed.
However, in the neighborhood, you can also buy beers and cigarettes through a supermarket grid, eat a pancake or take out Asian food.
Life before Covid-19, or almost.
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Only the bars which were sometimes tolerant enough seem to have really lowered the flag.
"People want to go out, they have no morale, if things continue it will blow up, predicts the boss of an establishment in the 17th arrondissement, who points to inconsistencies in health arbitration.
I have clients who take it badly when I push them out, who tell me that I have changed.
Behind the curtain, he himself has sometimes welcomed for an evening a handful of regulars "become friends".
"It's hard to resist"
As of November, 60% of French people said they had already bypassed containment or curfew measures in an Ifop poll.
During our wanderings in recent weeks under curfew, we met this Nivernaise who was walking quietly with her daughter against a background of conspiracy theories.
This Marseillaise which multiplied the evenings with friends ready to use its paramedical caduceus to ward off a possible control, too.
Or this great-grandmother from Yonne who returned from her daughter's house in the middle of the night after New Year's Eve. And then also this consultant accustomed to clandestine aperitifs or evenings with friends, because "anyway, it would be better to let the epidemic slip away ”.
In companies, it is sometimes also time to relax, between Galette des Rois and starting pots.
The common point between the majority of these behaviors: wear and tear and the absence of controls.
A few kilometers from Angers, Anthony, 21, admits a little adrenaline rush when he goes to join friends: “I don't organize parties, but if someone invites me, it's hard to resist.
Around my house, in the countryside, there is little chance of meeting the police, but in town it is a little riskier.
But sometimes, we are ready to go out even if it means taking a fine of 135 euros.
It feels a bit like playing with fire.
"
Beyond the challenge, this work-study student breathes: “There are so many prohibitions… I was a fervent fan of bars.
Currently, I am at home with my sister and my parents, who are over 60 years old.
They are pretty healthy so I don't have a constant fear of bringing the virus back, but I try to be careful.
My sister and I were big party animals to begin with.
Our parents understood this.
"
Not enough controls?
"It's getting extremely long," sighs Elsa, a Parisian communicator who allows herself one or two evenings with friends a week.
During the first confinement, I hadn't done anything stupid.
What has changed the way I look at it is the length, while I tend to stick to the measurements.
If you live alone and you telecommute, you can quickly go crazy.
In the spring, it was the first time we experienced something like this.
And then the fear diminished and there is also the fact that we are not too controlled.
"
A widespread feeling to which the Ministry of the Interior opposes 120,000 checks and 20,000 verbalizations, just from January 16, date of generalization of the curfew at 6 pm, to January 19.
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The thirty-something Parisian "does not have big parties" unlike her neighbors above, but by listing the back and forth between her home and her darling's roommate where sometimes eight people gather, on weekends with friends (authorized) and evenings at each other's homes, she admits having "the impression of taking a little risk": "You feel a little guilty and you are not going to brag about it, for fear that one will make you a Note.
"
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The differences are indeed sometimes frowned upon by more scrupulous fellow citizens.
Laure, who lives in Brézins near Grenoble (Isère) admits that "in the countryside we see less of this kind of behavior" and is sorry: "Too many people do not respect the rules.
The numbers continue to increase while we have the means to improve the situation.
If we are re-defined, it will denote a certain non-respect… These rules seem simple to me to follow.
I do it because I want to get back to a normal life.
“A motivation also displayed by most of the offenders we interviewed, even if it means deviating from the constraints in force.
105,133 fines since the start of the curfew
1.2 million checks were carried out by the police (police and gendarmerie) between December 15, the date of the establishment of a national curfew at 8 p.m. throughout the country.
According to data transmitted by the Ministry of the Interior and stopped on January 19, 105,133 reports were drawn up on this occasion.
The flat-rate fine for disregarding the curfew is 135 euros.
Almost a quarter (23%) of the infringements recorded were in the eight departments of the Ile-de-France region.
Between Saturday January 16, date of passage to the national curfew at 6 pm, and Tuesday January 19, 120,000 checks were carried out in France, with 20,000 fines.
