“I would like Paris to stay like this all the time, without cars, without stress, without too many people. Face in the sun, Lucy is enjoying her lunch break on the quays of Île Saint-Louis (I). Alone on her stone bench, she takes a little time before going home to telework. The coronavirus? "I don't forget, but I hadn't been out for two days. And it's hard to resist in this weather. "
The thermometer climbed to 21 ° C at the best of the afternoon. So inevitably, the temptation is great ... "I am a person at risk, because I am 75 years old. But how can we not get outside with this weather? asks Claude. And then, it can't hurt us, a little air… ”
"I went out to let off steam for fear of slaughtering my kid"
At the foot of Montmartre hill (18th century), a jogger stops to catch her breath. "Life confined to a cramped apartment is complicated," confides this esthetician, without work since Monday. My 14 year old son is reluctant to do his homework. We argue from morning to night. The climate is extremely tense. I can not stand it anymore. I went out to let off steam for fear of massacring my kid… ”
Pont de l'Archevêché (IVe), opposite Notre-Dame cathedral, the atmosphere is more relaxed between Jean-Louis and his two teenagers. "I have never seen Paris like this. Usually, it's teeming with tourists, cars, I take the opportunity to take some pictures. It's just incredible. There was no time to linger until a police vehicle stopped at his height.
"We just walk thirty minutes and we go back," says the father, showing his certificate. "Stay away from each other, please," the agent recommends. What surprises Jean-Louis a little: "We all live together, you know ..." "Outside, give the good example, stay a meter away, otherwise it can be considered as a grouping and it is prohibited Retorts the official. Jean-Louis and his family promise to return within half an hour.
On the banks of the Seine, many Parisians jog. "It's so nice," says a jogger. "We have never seen so many," laughs an onlooker. Further on, it's a tanning session. But the spring break is short-lived. A police crew on bicycle comes to check everyone, calmly. "I know the time is right, but you shouldn't linger outside," says an agent before inquiring about the health of an elderly lady. "So we can exercise, but sit down right?" Asked another.
"Unacceptable" Behaviors
On the Place des Abbesses (18th century), at the foot of the Sacré-Coeur basilica closed to the public for the first time in its history, a dozen police officers control movements. A quadra refuses to submit to it. Another left without certificate, provoked with the police. They both face a fine of € 135.
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“We remind the recalcitrant of the instructions and we also verbalize. If confinement is not better respected, there will inevitably be a reinforcement of measures, ”comments an officer. For their part, the town hall and the police prefecture deplored behavior "unacceptable [...] at a time when healthcare workers are fighting day and night to save lives in hospitals" and promised "strict controls" in areas of the capital that are too busy.