Businesses inside the zone can remain open: an online reservation was apparently enough to be allowed in to go to a hairdresser or restaurant; art galleries were told their clients would be allowed in, but they often weren’t, so many galleries have closed early for the summer.
Most of the bridges across the Seine have been completely closed off. On the Pont Notre-Dame, which remained open, a dense pack of tourists squeezed against people pushing their bikes southwards (the carriageway runs north only). Restaurants just outside the zone, caged behind the fences, were open but there weren’t many people eating there, even though it was lunchtime.
The fences zig-zagged around Saint-Germain-des-Près. The area was busy, but far less crowded than on a normal Friday, let alone in the high tourist season. Perhaps the wealthy enough residents had left, while those coming for the Olympics hadn’t yet arrived. La Palette, where afghanistan phone data it’s notoriously hard to find a table, was stuck on the wrong side of the fence, and looked mostly empty.
As I went up Rue Mazarine, I noticed a few gaps in the fence. At a police roadblock I ran into an acquaintance whose gallery was in the zone. We chatted a little, and I mentioned the holes I’d seen in the fence: ‘You should pay us a visit,’ he joked (his gallery had closed the day before). I guessed that some disgruntled person had taken a screwdriver to the fences the previous night, and decided to try my luck.