Between caution and enthusiasm, the French drop the mask

As every morning, the streets of Paris are swarming with workers in a hurry, earphones in their ears, concentrated faces, rhythmic gait. But under the moist heat of stormy weather, a wind of freedom is blowing over the capital. The announcement fell yesterday: put down the masks! During a press conference Jean Castex said the words that everyone had been waiting impatiently for several weeks: “Wearing a mask outdoors will no longer be compulsory, except in certain circumstances”.

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Unexpected, surprising, exhilarating: it has been a long time since the Prime Minister has brought such good news. The director general of health Jérôme Salomon had already hinted at the end of the tunnel on Monday June 14, by announcing on RTL the end of the outdoor mask from July 1. But he was immediately contradicted by the Ministry of Health. This time, it's the good one: on the sidewalks, it is almost surreal to rediscover the faces, sometimes smiling, sometimes morose, of busy Parisians. Almost moving to find these expressions, facial expressions and other grimaces that make the particularity of each passer-by. Worn under the chin, hung on the ear or slipped around the arm, the mask seems to be nothing more than a neglected, derisory accessory, a vestige of a painful but now bygone era.

SEE ALSO - And you, will you keep the mask even if it is no longer mandatory outside?

For some, nothing has changed

However, not everyone has given up on outdated health protection yet. If many of them do without it in the capital, others keep it firmly anchored, as if nothing had changed. And for good reason, some are simply not aware that it is authorized to remove it outside! "Ah good ? Are you sure ?" is surprised, skeptical, a fifties in a suit, before resuming his journey. "Ah, I thought it was July 1st!" murmurs Anna, retired, who wanders in the street in search of an open shop. Despite this new freedom, she nevertheless chooses to keep it, “because of the Indian variant (now called Delta variant, Ed)”. “I have already received my two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, but we don't know what can happen,” she is wary.

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Sitting on the terrace of a café, Louise takes advantage of this feeling of freedom. "This is so cool ! Especially since the weather is nice and hot, so it has become difficult to breathe lately, ”confides this young active. The heat wave at the start of the week made the mask even less bearable. “By 33 degrees, it was torture,” jokes his table neighbor, who also relishes the long-awaited lifting of this restriction. But Louise remains cautious: “It still worries me a little”, she breathes, wondering “why remove it now when the epidemic is not yet over”.

"We must not stop living"

Not everyone shares his apprehension. “It's a relief, a feeling of freedom, of joy,” exclaims Keren. For this Spanish motion-designer, it was the right decision to make: “I think you have to get used to it, live with the epidemic, tell yourself that it will be fine”, she puts it into perspective. The young woman highlights the fact that she "plays sports", that she "never fell ill": "We must not stop living", she concludes. Mathieu, himself, took advantage of this freedom a little before everyone else. “I haven't really worn it for a while”, admits this student, a little embarrassed, before adding: “Lately, I've been used to keeping it under my chin”. "But hey, from now on, it's legal," he smiles.

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For him, the real good news is the repeal of the curfew as of June 20. During his press conference, Jean Castex announced the end of this system ten days ahead of the government's initial deconfinement plan. One more step towards returning to “normal life”.

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