At the intersection of Rue du Louvre and Rue de Rivoli, the QR code waltz is not yet well controlled: the police continue to turn back Parisians and tourists. And for the shopkeepers who have fallen on the wrong side of the security barriers, the mood is not in the party mood.
“Can we get through without a QR code?” Ahmed asks the police officers who are controlling the entrance to the security perimeter set up for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games scheduled for Friday on the Seine. On his bike, with his GPS open on his phone, the 28-year-old engineer has to “take a detour” for 10 to 15 minutes more to get to work. “It doesn’t make you want to go out,” he laments.
And many of them didn’t want to set foot outside. As proof, the photos of the deserted streets of the French capital that went around the world this Sunday. “We went for a walk along the Seine the day before yesterday, we were all alone,” says Olivier Crusson, 41, a tourist from Quebec. “It’s definitely a bit out of the ordinary,” adds Katherine Santerre, 36, who says she had a good time. “Long live Paris,” she adds with a smile on her lips.
“We’re going to be able to take magical photos of Paris, without anyone,” says Céline, a retiree who lives on the banks of the Seine. “And no, it doesn’t remind me of Covid-19, because it’s a bit more festive anyway.”
Source: www.20minutes.fr
