As every morning, the streets of Paris are swarming with workers in a hurry, headphones in their ears, concentrated mines, rhythmic gait.
But under the moist heat of stormy weather, a wind of freedom is blowing over the capital.
The announcement fell yesterday: off the masks!
During a press conference Jean Castex uttered the words that everyone had been impatiently awaiting for several weeks: "
Wearing a mask outdoors will no longer be compulsory, except in certain circumstances
".
Read also: Outdoors, the mask becomes the exception
Unexpected, surprising, exhilarating: it has been a long time since the Prime Minister had brought such good news. The director general of health Jérôme Salomon had already hinted at the end of the tunnel on Monday June 14, announcing on RTL the end of the mask outdoors on July 1. But he was immediately contradicted by the Ministry of Health. This time, it's the right one: on the sidewalks, it is almost surreal to rediscover the faces, sometimes smiling, sometimes gloomy, of busy Parisians. Almost moving to find these expressions, facial expressions and other grimaces which make the particularity of each passer-by. Worn under the chin, hung on the ear or slipped around the arm, the mask seems to be nothing more than a neglected, derisory accessory, a vestige ofa painful time but now over.
For some, nothing has changed
Yet not everyone has given up on outdated health protection yet.
While many of them do without it in the capital, others keep it firmly anchored, as if nothing had changed.
And for good reason, some are simply not aware that it is allowed to take it outside!
"
Really?
Are you sure ?
»Is astonished, skeptical, a fifty-something in a suit, before resuming his journey.
“
Ah, I thought it was July 1st!
»Whispers Anna, retired, wandering down the street in search of an open shop.
Despite this new freedom, she nevertheless chooses to keep it, "
because of the Indian variant
(now called the Delta variant, Editor's note)".
"
I have already received my two doses of Pfizer vaccine, but we do not know what can happen,
”she is suspicious.
Read also: Wearing a mask, curfew: "The end of the night"
Sitting on the terrace of a cafe, Louise takes advantage of this feeling of freedom.
“
It's so cool!
Especially since the weather is nice and warm, so it has become difficult to breathe lately
, ”confides this young active.
The heatwave at the start of the week made the mask even less bearable.
"
By 33 degrees, it was torture,
" jokes his neighbor at the table, who also relishes the long-awaited lifting of this restriction.
But Louise remains cautious: "
It still worries me a little
", she breathes, wondering "
why remove it now when the epidemic is not yet over
".
"
We must not stop living
"
But not all of them share his apprehension. “
It's a relief, a feeling of freedom, of joy,
” Karen exclaims. For this Spanish motion-designer it was the right decision to take: "
I think we have to get used to it, live with the epidemic, say that it will be okay
", she puts into perspective. The young woman highlights the fact that she "
plays sports
", that she "
never fell ill
": "
We must not stop living,
" she concludes. Mathieu took advantage of this freedom a little before everyone else. "
It's been a while since not really wearing it
", admits this student, a little embarrassed, before adding: "
Lately, I'm more used to keeping it under my chin
”.
"
But hey, from now on it's legal,
" he smiles.
Read also: Covid-19: in Nice, a curfew that has become untenable
For him, the real good news is the repeal of the curfew as of June 20.
During his press conference, Jean Castex indeed announced the end of this device ten days ahead of the government's initial deconfinement plan.
One more step towards a return to "normal life".