Coronavirus: France enters phase 2 of its deconfinement

Only the café terraces can reopen in Paris during phase 2 of the deconfinement on June 2, 2020. BERTRAND GUAY / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

This Tuesday, June 2, the new deconfinement rules come into force in France. No more traffic restrictions in the country, reopening of swimming pools and performance halls, also reopening of bars and restaurants, in compliance with protection rules. In Mayotte, Guyana and Île-de-France, classified orange, only the terraces can accommodate the public.

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Workers put a final screw behind the counter, while the boss glances in the cupboards. Achour Abdelguerfi ​​runs a Parisian brasserie, and even before the arrival of the first customers, he has a job.

"A  lot of work, because you have to restart everything, clean everything, put the fridges back on the road, go shopping," explains Achour Abdelguerfi ​​at the microphone of David Baché, journalist with the France service of RFI. So we will start with sandwiches, croque-monsieur at the start, time to get well in place, before presenting the usual dishes. It's going to be a bit of a shot.  Out of twelve employees, all of whom have been unemployed since mid-March, six return to work on Tuesday.

Expanding space  "

After two months of total inactivity, Raba Bicheur, too, finally reopens the doors of his cafe. But with much less enthusiasm “  since we don't have the space on the terrace and we only have six tables.  "However, “  with physical distance, we don't even have the right to set the six tables.  "Raba will therefore try"  to widen the space, to take the space of the neighbors to make the minimum profit. Now we're just going to use my bartender and me.  "

The kitchens remain closed, only drinks are served. Six out of seven employees of this Parisian café will remain partially unemployed until a full reopening, room included, is possible.

Listen: Paris at the time of the second phase of deconfinement

Hoping to hold on  "

Other region than Ile-de-France, strongly affected by the epidemic and which is gradually trying to return to normal: the Grand Est, gone from red to green. This Whit Monday in Strasbourg, we only encountered a few bikes and rare pedestrians. Everything was closed: the restaurateurs were cleaning up on the eve of reopening.

Thierry Deliau is at the head of a winstub, these small restaurants which serve Alsatian cuisine. For the past three days, he has been disinfecting everything, even the ceiling beams.

When the customer has left his table, I will put him at the next table and I will quickly disinfect the table that has been occupied," he explains to Angélique Ferat, our correspondent in Strasbourg. There, I think that if we make 30% compared to last year, it may be a lot already. So I live with my little pension of 1,400 euros maximum. I took over my boss and it will be the only salary. Hope I can hold on.  "

Financial disaster

A few streets away, the managers of the Argentoratum restaurant clean the windows of their establishment. Céline Leiner is happy to reopen but with a big question mark: "  Financially, it's a disaster, " she said. We had to redo a loan to survive the time of closure. 80% [of customers], we are tourists. We don't have that many locals here. If in three or four months, we make 15 covers per day, that will not be enough and we will be forced to close the restaurant.  "

The 100 km limit for travel is lifted. For foreign tourists, it will take until June 15 and the opening of European borders to hope to see more.

Race against time

In the campsites, it is also the battle of uncertainty. Example by the sea on the Crown side, near Marseille. The Mas campsite looks like a ghost village. No one at the bungalow terraces or at the children's games. Just a team of cleaning ladies who drive around the fairways in a golf cart, like Patricia, racing against the clock.

We take advantage of the space to do everything we have to do, " she says to Stéphane Burgatt, our correspondent in Marseille. There, we are in the process of refurbishing everything completely for the arrival of vacationers. Yes, it's the rush. We had already started a little but hey, we have to do this at the last moment like that, it stays clean.  "

Hiring to apply sanitary measures

It's been a drowsy machinery for several months that must be restarted at the campsite. Starting with the swimming pool: “  We have just started it up right now, explains Bruno. It must be checked that there is no leak. There is more to send! Happy with the recovery, it feels good. We had the squirrels but there, it was a little bit sad, all the same.  "

The excitement is palpable. Rosie, the boss, is relieved to resume an activity, even if things will happen differently with health rules.

It means there will be fewer sunbeds. The deckchair will be assigned to the arriving customer for the day. There will be disinfection of the deckchairs every evening. It does work in addition, all the same, all these measures that must be put in place. So we hire two staff.  "

The first reservations are already registered with a few arrivals this week.

To listen: Damien Abad: "We could have accelerated the deconfinement"

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  • Coronavirus
  • France
  • Confinement

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