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What Virus? Parisians Pack Cafes as City Gets its Magic Back

Associated Press

   PARIS - Paris is rediscovering its joie de vivre, as cafes and
   restaurants reopen for the first time since the fast-spreading
   coronavirus forced them to close their doors on March 14.

   Many customers seemed to shrug off masks and social distancing as they
   streamed back to their neighborhood bistros for a morning espresso or a
   three-course lunch Monday, free to resume their lifestyles by a
   surprise announcement from the French president himself.

   "We will rediscover ... the art of living, our taste for freedom,"
   President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address to the nation
   Sunday night, citing progress in fighting the virus. "We will
   rediscover France."

   After two months of being totally shut down as part of France's strict
   virus lockdown measures, restaurants outside the Paris region opened
   earlier this month. Since June 2, Paris cafes have been allowed to
   serve people outside but not open their doors. Before Macron's speech,
   the full reopening wasn't expected until later this month.

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