France Savours New Freedoms As Cafes, Museums Reopen

The French on Wednesday joyfully made their way back to cafes, cinemas and museums as the country loosened restrictions in a return to semi-normality after more than six months of Covid-19 curbs

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th May, 2021 ) :The French on Wednesday joyfully made their way back to cafes, cinemas and museums as the country loosened restrictions in a return to semi-normality after more than six months of Covid-19 curbs.

Cafes and restaurants with terraces or rooftop gardens can now offer outdoor dining, under the second phase of a lockdown-lifting plan that should culminate in a full reopening of the economy on June 30.

Museums, cinemas and some theatres are also reopening after being closed for 203 days.

Bad weather across much of the country failed to dampen the spirits of customers who beat a path back to their favourite cafes and cultural haunts from the early morning.

"It's a form of liberation," Didier Semah, a music producer, told AFP jovially as he sipped an espresso with a friend on the terrace of Felix Cafe in eastern Paris, shielded from a downpour by the awning.

For Sabine Dosso-Greggia, a 45-year-old accountant who was having a mid-morning cigarette and coffee at the next table, it was about enjoying the "small daily pleasures" again.

"It's about being with others and indulging in the things that make up life in Paris, like going to a restaurant with friends or taking the kids to an exhibition," she said.

In the western city of Rennes, Patricia Marchand, the manager of the Cafe des Feuilles, said she had reservations even for aperitifs. "It feels good. There is a sense of euphoria in the city centre."In a boost for the economy, non-essential businesses from toys to clothes shops, which had been closed since early April, also reopened on Wednesday.