In recent days I've had the opportunity to talk a lot with people who told me they would give anything to be in this world right now.ParisHowever, Paris right now is not exactly the city you remember, the monuments and parks are there but everything else is a little different.
You can buy coffee or patisserie at your favorite place but you won't have a place to sit and enjoy them. The lights of theEiffel They sparkle every night, but the Eiffel Tower is closed to visitors, the cold doesn't allow you to enjoy the parks or take comfort in a picnic with a mask, and slowly more and more businesses are being forced to close their doors.
I wanted to give you a different perspective on Paris under the Corona virus.
For all its beauty and with a lot of appreciation for the Parisian entrepreneurs who have tried and are trying to reinvent and adapt themselves, the general feeling is that it is a mask that tries to broadcast to the world business as usual, but underneath is a somewhat sad and desperate face hidden by the Sword of Damocles in the form of a clasp or other cut that hangs above.
So today, let me take you on a journey through pictures of some of the better-known and lesser-known places in the City of Lights. Join me in discovering a beautiful but also sad Paris. A different Paris than you remember.
A photographic journey in Paris during the Corona period
Angelina Cafe – You can make small talk with the saleswomen
Angelina Cafe, which is located on Rue Rivoli in1th District Considered one of the busiest and most touristy coffee shops in Paris. Until before the coronavirus, you would have had to stand in line to eat its famous Mont Blanc cake or drink hot chocolate, as you can see in the following video.
https://youtu.be/jCuKjL_HMQU
Today, due to the Corona restrictions, there are not a single tourist there and I even managed to have a patient conversation with the slightly bored saleswomen (something impossible in the days when they served dozens of customers every hour).
And if you go out from Angelina to Rue Rivoli you will find that many of its shops are closed. And so even the guests of the hotel Le Meurice The wealthy are forced to do window shopping in front of closed stores.
Tuileries Gardens – a beautiful fall foliage area that you can enjoy alone
On October 29th, the last day before the start of the second lockdown, I held a spontaneous photo session inTuileries GardensIn retrospect, I was wrong and the lockdown was much less terrible than the first hermetic lockdown, but I didn't want to take the risk that I wouldn't be able to photograph autumn this year.
The Louvre Museum – the tourists are no longer there
Everyone who visitedThe Louvre Museum I remember the long lines at the entrance and the hundreds of tourists trying to take selfies of themselves near the pyramid. When I walked around on Saturday morning, this plaza was completely empty.
Palais Royal – no shows but there is a Marie Antoinette doll (for 1400 euros)
The gardensPalais Royal, which became even more popular than before following the series Amelie in Paris They also feel a bit abandoned. Let's start with the Comédie Française, whose arcades look more abandoned than ever.
The entrance to the Palais Royal, which is usually crowded with tourists, is also very empty, as you can see.
However, if you enter the Palais Royal complex itself, you will find that the famous Les Drapeaux de France store is still open, although it is a bit empty. If you have a spare 1400 euros, you can leave with a doll of Marie Antoinette.
Art in Paris – swaying but not sinking
It seems that despite the economic crisis and the depressing mood, art in Paris continues to live on, even though the galleries themselves are closed most of the time due to the Corona guidelines.
Take for example Annco Miura's studio at Rue Rivoli 59. There aren't many guests, which leaves quite a bit of time to create new art.
The same can be found at Druot, the famous auction house, which became immortalized by Barbara's famous poem (whose melody is appropriate for the days of Corona).
Naturally, the large crowd of sellers and buyers disappeared following social distancing guidelines. However, the artists remained and turned the space into a studio.
Paris restaurants – starting to get used to takeaway
Paris' restaurants are an integral part of it, and it's impossible to imagine the City of Lights without its bistros and brasseries. With the summer break over, the restaurant industry had to adapt to the new reality. Those whose menus allowed them to do self-pickup and create an interesting look that years from now will look like it belongs to another era.
And in the other restaurants, the waiters in masks are still waiting for customers to come.
But while I was walking down Sderot Saint Germain I suddenly saw a sight that had been part of the Parisian landscape in the past and had now become rare: a man sitting at a table in a cafe.
And despite everything, the coronavirus didn't manage to kill romance completely.
Lockdowns, masks, and other social distancing measures haven't completely killed the romance that has been an integral part of Paris for centuries. Take this couple, for example, who decided to kiss on the streets of Île Saint-Louis despite everything.
And we'll end with a slightly old photo. This is the last photo session near Eiffel Tower That I did before the first lockdown, when it was still allowed to get close and hold hands just like that around the City of Lights.
And so, when 2020 finally ended and 2021 finally began, let's hope that this year the Corona nightmare will finally end and Paris will return to being not only beautiful but also happy.
