There's a mix of gratitude, nostalgia and uncertainty in the French papers as they herald the end of the country's eight-week lockdown, reports FRANCE 24.
Le Parisien and 20 Minutes salute essential workers, Libération declares a "return to abnormal", and l'Opinion notes that France is "de-confined but defiant".
As France ends this nearly two-month lockdown period, many papers are taking a moment to recognise the essential workers that made it possible for us to get through it. "Thank you for everything" is the front-page headline from 20 Minutes.
Papers are saluting healthcare workers, but also cashiers, custodians, delivery drivers and volunteers. "If we’re starting up again it’s thanks to them," writes Le Parisien. The paper is being sold along with a single-use mask today for readers in the Paris area.
France's Catholic paper La Croix is taking a look back at this unprecedented collective experience. The paper talked to 100 people about what they’re taking away from the lockdown. You can read several of the answers on the front page: "an incredible adventure", "the value of human life" and with that a desire for "fewer plans, more living".
For leftwing daily Libération, today doesn’t mark the return to normal but the return to "abnormal". With its two-zone system, France is now divided into red and green but the paper says it's really entering a grey area. Half-free, half-constrained: the end of the lockdown is not going to be a party