One of the few saving graces of Lockdown 2.0 in Paris: The parks are open.
During the 56-day shut-in last spring, they were closed tight. No one even mowed the grass. Now, people are free to enjoy them – if the parks are close to home and everyone wears a mask.
We could really use some enjoyment. The virus surge is slowing a tad but France still leads Europe in total number of cases and, based on a skim of the numbers, daily infections. Hospital ICUs are more than 90% occupied by COVID patients. One in four deaths in France these days is caused by the virus, Prime Minister Jean Castex says.
Castex said on national television Thursday that the lockdown will last at least through the planned Dec. 1 expiration date and quite possibly longer. Like last spring, we are required to stay at home except for specific reasons, including shopping, exercise or a medical appointment, and must show a written justification when we go out. So-called non-essential businesses are closed, though some can sell over the Internet or from their doorsteps.
This second lockdown has a few features that make life a little more pleasant (at least for those of us who aren’t owners of small businesses — they are suffering terribly). For one, schools are partly open, allowing parents to work from home more easily.
And there are the parks, whose greenery and open spaces allow us to shake off our fears and act as if we aren’t in the midst of a global pandemic that has killed more than 44,000 people in France.
I’ve been hanging out a lot at the Parc Martin-Luther-King, as we hyphenate it around here. If any locals don’t know who he was, they won’t learn much by reading the sign at the park entrance.
As you can see, no dogs are allowed inside, but that’s about the only thing Parc MLK has in common with the more touristy Paris green spaces. The vegetation is wilder, and more oriented toward the seasons. Instead of the long sandy paths of the Tuileries or the Jardins du Luxembourg, you get natural plantings similar to those of the High Line in New York’s Chelsea.
The park, on the site of an old rail yard, sits in one of Paris’s few truly modern neighborhoods, on the northern edge of the city. Its surroundings show none of the Haussman-era buildings that typify the center. Its 27 acres are bordered on three sides by high-rises, none of which contradict the French reputation for ugly contemporary architecture.
But the streets near the park are lively and filled with young families. Cinemas, supermarkets, hardware stores abound, or at least they will when they are allowed to open again. There are bakeries too, even if they don’t look like the ones we’re used to.
The locals, and also those who have to walk 10 minutes to get there, like me, show every sign of appreciating their green space.
They can exercise or read,
Play or drink (two of the fountain’s three faucets emit sparkling water),
Or just be in love.
Winter is approaching. Everyone is thinking about Christmas and whether they can get together en famille. Polls still show that a majority of the French support the lockdown in order to fight the virus. (They also show that 60 percent of people admit breaking the rules some of the time.)
If the virus hasn’t subsided sufficiently in a few weeks, the government hasn’t ruled out continuing the restrictions through Christmas and is discouraging large family gatherings. Maybe we’ll all be opening our presents in the park this year.