Not every croissant is eaten as hot as it is baked, not even in France.

Some are even granted a life of more than a few hasty seconds, for example for the duration of a train journey.

But like so many freedoms and habits, in times of pandemics the decision about when and how to eat is no longer solely in the hands of the consumer.

Niklas Záboji

Business correspondent in Paris

  • Follow I follow

At least for those whose face is adorned with a mask in accordance with the rules.

You run the risk of letting aerosols run free if you want to satisfy your hunger.

Mask or meal, control or bliss, Apollo or Dionysus - that has recently been the question that travelers have faced.

Deutsche Bahn allows consumption on the go, but asks you to "carry it out at the usual speed" and then put the mask back on.

In France, on the other hand, the enjoyment stopped this week.

Consumption on buses and trains is now strictly regulated.

Some people thought: forbidden.

Because that is how Prime Minister Jean Castex had to be understood when he blew the fight against Omikron after Christmas: "The consumption of drinks and food is prohibited on public transport, including long-distance traffic." This applies for a period of three weeks.

No laissez-faire

The following official decree suddenly spoke of the fact that only the sale of drinks and meals was forbidden - but not their consumption.

The final word about the croissant on board did not seem to have been spoken.

That called France's Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari on the scene.

He specified on Monday that it was of course allowed to dine on long-distance trips.

"If you absolutely have to eat or drink on the train because you are unstable or simply have this physiological need, you can take off your mask," said Djebbari.

As a call to laissez-faire, he did not want to understand his words.

He added that drinking or eating had to be done "quickly".

Then you have to put on your mask "immediately" again.

What should be avoided, the minister went on, is the "abuse" of a person taking off their mask "while eating chips for several minutes or even several hours".

These phenomena are rare.

But they existed.