Paris (AFP)

From the banks of the Saint-Martin canal to Boulevard Saint-Germain, Parisians rediscovered Tuesday the pleasure of drinking coffee on the just reopened terraces, with - supreme luxury in the capital - space, social distancing forces.

Seated at Prune, an institution of the Saint-Martin canal, Charlotte, in her thirties, set her alarm clock "just for that". "We are super happy, it's the coffee downstairs, we are happy to see it reopen, there is even room!", Jubilates this resident of eastern Paris, who lived in confinement in a small apartment with no outdoor space.

In Ile-de-France, as in French Guiana and Mayotte, areas classified orange because they are more under pressure in front of the coronavirus, only the terraces can receive customers with a minimum distance between each table.

Philippe, 61, "still stressed by this virus", began by verifying that "distanciations are respected" before savoring his coffee, "a great pleasure, a little bit of a feeling of found freedom".

Something to smile at Parisians sitting at the Place de la République, like Christelle. After more than two months without a single drink outside, she "settled down immediately on a terrace" with her daughter. Coffee and glass of water for the mother, grenadine for the daughter, all served with a jar of hydroalcoholic gel. "What a pleasure to find that again, it's great!".

"A real breath of joy," she says with a smile, before admitting that happiness will be complete once the schools are fully reopened ...

- "True deconfinement" -

On the left bank, at the legendary Café de Flore, on the upscale boulevard Saint-Germain, the joy is the same for Anissa, a cigarette with lips to accompany her morning milk coffee.

"Paradoxically, it's even more pleasant with more space," smiles the 38-year-old lawyer, who has already planned to return this evening to have a drink with friends.

"Coffee is typically Parisian," says the regular, who lives in the area. "I missed this little pleasure."

Le Flore has delighted its customers by reopening its terrace at 7:30 a.m. With a few changes: a cord marks the queue on the edge of the floor, the tables extend to the front of the window of the adjacent bookstore and bite a sidewalk corner. Arranged in pairs, they are widely spaced. When a single customer sits down, a red cross reminds them that the second table cannot be used. All the staff are also masked.

Not enough to prevent Philippe Da Cruz, impeccable black jacket and tie, from chatting with his clients. "They're super happy to be able to come back and do things from normal life," says the waiter. "It's the real deconfinement that begins."

Some customers even arrived early. "They wanted to resume their ritual," said AFP general manager Alexandre Siljegovic.

The cafe had been on the job since Friday to prepare for its reopening. However, the enthusiasm of the traders around this limited restart is not overflowing in the district: opposite, Les Deux Magots, another institution of literary Paris, will only open on Friday and the Louise café remains closed.

"Le Flore is a symbol for Parisians, so we reopened without asking any questions," said Siljegovic. The cafe, which can only accommodate "30%" of its customers under these conditions, will also "have to do without Asian customers" and counts "on regulars" and European tourists who could return as early as June 15, after the reopening of borders.

© 2020 AFP