déconfinement en France

France has been experiencing a steady decline in corona cases for some time now and decided to lift quarantine on May 11. May 11 was when déconfinement began, allowing us to leave our houses and travel up to 100 km. We were no longer required to carry papers with us detailing our reasons for leaving the house and the precise time in which we did so.

On June 15 all restrictions were lifted. Due to economic fears, the country's leaders decided to reopen practically everything. When polled, French citizens stated that they were more afraid of economic failure than dying by the hands of corona. C'est la vie! Terraces are open for café-sipping patrons, restaurants are open for outdoor seating, and all barbers/hairdressers/nail salons are booked full for post-quarantine pampering. Masks are only required inside establishments and even then, no one enforces it. Travel within Europe is opening up and if I didn't know any better I wouldn't even know corona existed.

To celebrate déconfinement, I had a picnic with my friend under the Eiffel Tower. It was so special since we hadn't seen each other for months and since we practically hadn't left our houses. We bought loads of goodies for a typical French picnic ie charcuterie, comté, goat cheese, a fresh baguette, and of course some vin. We spent hours in the perfectly sunny weather, enjoying the company we had so craved for three months prior.

Since then, we had another picnic at Buttes Chaumont, a fairytale-like park in the 19th arrondissement. We brought the same fixings and after exploring the vast hills of this mysteriously placed park, we settled on a patch of grass facing the man-made lake.

I took my child to this same park the next week for a Wednesday (she doesn't have school on Wednesdays) picnic complete with Five Guys, our favorite. Although quite expensive, it does remind me of home and tastes oh so good.

While I am still relatively scared of corona, many French are not. It's truly as if it no longer exists here. I am taking precautions ie wearing a mask toujours and always washing my hands. Summer officially started on Monday as the kids are out of school! They went back to in-person school for a seemingly unnecessary two weeks before their two and a half month long summer began.

ciao!