Can we finally order now? "Asks the Frenchman and admonishes the waiter:" After all, we've been waiting for seven months! "There is no better way to describe the mood in Paris on Wednesday than the cartoonist of the Canard Enchaîné.
Although the sky over the French capital continues to darken and rain pours down, the café terraces are already full of impatient guests in the morning.
Anne speaks of the “happiness of the little things” when she treats herself to a large milk coffee with a croissant under the parasol of a café-restaurant on the Champs-Elysées before rushing to the office.
She took the quilted jacket with a hood out of the closet, so that she could endure it on a restaurant terrace even at noon when the temperature was up to twelve degrees.
Michaela Wiegel
Political correspondent based in Paris.
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Stephan Löwenstein
Political correspondent based in Vienna.
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On television, recordings of café and restaurant visitors are shown all day long, the south has it better again, the sun is shining on the Côte d'Azur.
But people don't want to let envy spoil their joy at the opening of outdoor restaurants.
“What was banal before the health crisis, like drinking a glass on a terrace, becomes extraordinary and festive,” says ethnologist Emmanuelle Lallement.
She speaks of the "expansion of the fixed zone" in France.
The “art de vivre” is back
In a side street near the Elysée Palace, the President and his Prime Minister have taken their seats on garden chairs and have an espresso served in front of the cameras, which is simply called “café” in French. Emmanuel Macron is happy because it was a very personal bet that he won. The trip to the coffee terrace seems to inspire him. "Two more, please," he cheerfully calls out to the waiter. Scientists and doctors had warned him when he arbitrarily indicated an opening perspective for mid-May at the height of the third wave in mid-April. But the falling infection numbers prove him right. He had deliberately set the hurdle for the opening low, with an incidence below 400. Now the President rejoiced that “our way of life is returning”.The French “art de vivre” naturally also includes culture. Theaters, art halls, museums and sights have reopened. Only the Eiffel Tower will remain closed for the time being for renovation work. But from the roof of the triumphal arch you can admire the view of Paris. There is a lot of activity on the Champs-Elysées, all shops were allowed to open.
Mona Lisa once again gave the visitors her mysterious smile.
To mark the reopening, the Louvre advertised with the slogan: “Find your smile again!” In rainy Paris, the cinemas in particular attracted a large number of visitors.
The queues for the film “Adieu les cons” were the longest, which could also mean a new motto: “Adieu the idiots”.
Long queues in front of the test stations
The opening in Austria was first noticed in the unusually long queues in front of the Covid test stations, for which there is a wide-ranging infrastructure in the country. If you want to visit your beloved coffee house again, you have to bring a negative test, unless you have been vaccinated or have recovered from a corona infection. Gastronomy and hotels were opened on Wednesday, but also cinemas, cultural and leisure facilities. The Wiener Wurstelprater and the State Opera are also tempting again - subject to certain restrictions such as a mask requirement (FFP2 masks for adults) and distance rules (one seat free, 20 square meters per person). Trade and services as well as museums have been open again since April, with restrictions. The curfew has been moved from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
In general, private gatherings of up to ten people are allowed, and possibly more, but there is a lot of small print to be aware of. Weddings with up to 50 guests are allowed, but nothing is allowed to be eaten or drunk - not even a sparkling wine. The combination of opening steps since April, vaccinations and many test options seems to have proven itself: the seven-day incidence is good 50 cases per 100,000 population decreased.