"Paris: this ominous silence that confinement only worsens"

Olivier Babeau is president of the Sapiens Institute (think-tank).

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The success of the hashtag #SaccageParis on social networks revealed the ugliness of Paris.

However, this is not the only major change that has recently taken place in the capital.

The stroller accustomed to the streets of Paris will undoubtedly have been struck by the incredible silence that now reigns there.

Of course, containment naturally has its part, because it has been limiting economic activity and street traffic for months, but the phenomenon had largely started before the pandemic.

Read also:

#saccageParis: the dirt and ugliness of Paris already denounced more than a century ago

One can wonder whether, with the permanent closure of many businesses and additional traffic restrictions, activity in the capital's city center will one day return to pre-crisis levels.

Going up the rue de Rivoli, once given over to an incessant flow of cars and passers-by, leaves a strange impression, because time seems to have stood still.

A few rare cyclists spin silently on the immense deserted artery

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