Containment… but outside. For the 21 million French people affected by the announcements of Jean Castex Thursday March 18th, 2021, everyday life shouldn’t be too messy over the next four weeks.
Apart from the closure of so-called “non-essential” businesses and the ban on interregional travel – barring compelling reasons – walks will remain possible, without time limit, within a radius of 10 km around his home. In addition, the curfew is pushed back by one hour from this Saturday, March 20.
For their part, schools and colleges will remain open. The high schools will operate on a half-gauge basis. Sports activities will be possible for children and teenagers. Nothing to do with the forced home maintenance of a year ago …
73,000 tickets sold
However, at the end of the Prime Minister’s intervention, the SNCF was stormed by Ile-de-France residents in a hurry to pack up. The website heated up with twice as many online reservations as the day before: + 73,000 tickets sold.
Despite sharply rising prices, many trains quickly sold out. Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Rennes, Nantes, Brest, Vannes, Biarritz, La Rochelle, Saint-Malo and Saint Brieuc were the most popular destinations. SNCF had to double the number of trains from Paris.
In addition, the roads of Ile-de-France were also very busy this Friday March 19 morning and afternoon, with nearly 300 km of traffic jams recorded around 2 p.m. Three times more than normal, at the same time. In the evening, more than 400 km of congestion was reported.
“It was decided at the last moment. I am stressed because I do not know if my husband will be able to join me ”, explains Julie, in her thirties, employee in human resources, leaving for Quiberon, met in the crowd of Montparnasse … Jumping on the train, the young woman wants to escape her “Neighborhood problems”. She “Saturated” and needs a change of environment.
Solenn, 21, a student of modern letters, sips a coffee while waiting for her TGV. “Immediately after the announcement of the re (re) confinement, my parents bought me a ticket so that I could join them on the Île de Ré. I didn’t want to be trapped in Paris. I end up banging my head against the walls ”.
In the world before, Coralie, an event employee, invited her friends to Paris for exhibitions and concerts. “Now, they are the ones who receive me in La Rochelle to escape confinement, she smiles, a mountain of suitcases beside her. I have everything I need to telecommute, all my papers. Hoping that the rest of France will not be reconfigured… ”
Bad news
For the mayors of the West, this “exodus” of Parisians is not a concern. No way “To drive them away”, as is sometimes claimed on social networks since Thursday. “If they arrive, we obviously won’t complain. We will ensure that there is no incivility towards them (as may have been the case during the first confinement…) and that the wearing of the mask is respected by all ”, notes Arnaud Salmon, mayor of Dinard.
Bad news, however, for these coastal communities where the start of the spring-summer season is generally given at the time of the Easter weekend, at the beginning of April this year. Thursday, March 18, the SNCF site also recorded nine times more travel cancellations than the day before. Too bad for Easter chocolates by the sea! Like last year…
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