Paris Confinement Chronicles: A New Normal

And one day, time seemed to stop. We were called to stay at home, to change our habits, to give up our evening strolls and family gatherings. Hugs and kisses became a luxury from a distant past.

The guidelines were clear: we needed to leave behind our daily routine and typical way of life in order to face this global health crisis and keep our community, especially the elderly, safe. A question came to my mind. Would we be up to this extraordinary request? Of one thing I was sure; this was the beginning of a new normal for us all. 

The streets of the usually bustling third arrondissement were deserted. As I walked to the grocery store for the first time in a week, I had the strange feeling that something was missing. The soul of the city—its people—is temporarily gone. 

Find important health and safety information on the current coronavirus situation in France here.

Momentarily interrupted by birds, an overwhelming silence covered the entire city while the early flowers of the season painted the new Parisian landscape. Spring is here, yet we can only see the blooming magnolias, green parks and Sunday picnics in our imagination. 

I expected lockdown to be twice as hard for me and my fellow expats as we would be isolated far from our families. I soon realized that this wasn’t necessarily true. 

After two days of struggling to concentrate and feeling anxious inside my apartment, I told myself that if I couldn’t go out and enjoy Paris, I would bring the best of the city into my home.

Looking for ways to bring Paris into your home? Click here for our Top 7 Ideas.

I started baking my own bread while listening to Edith Piaf, enjoying digital apéros with friends, and joining daily live online gatherings with the expat community where members share their knowledge and talents to keep one another company. 

On the fourth day of lockdown, the first rays of sunlight coming through my window announced the equinox. It’s amazing how so much had changed in just one week.

Every day at 8pm, Parisians open their windows and applaud the healthcare workers on the frontline, showing their gratitude to those doing their best to heal those in need during these difficult times.

Seeing how people have found thousands of ways to support each other has been tremendously inspiring. 

As soon as I decided to change my focus from the negative events and circumstances to the wonderful things people were doing to help one another, I started seeing kindness everywhere. 

Neighbors offering help to the sick and elderly, strangers paying for the groceries of man who had just lost his job, musicians playing their instruments to bring some comfort and joy to the rest of us… We are creating new ways of connecting. We are being more present. Help and support are now being offered through actions, not material things. 

I asked myself how I could be of help. I’ve been so touched by the positive actions and solidarity of the people of Paris that I felt the urge to support others in any way I could. 

I finally found my way of helping others, of paying it forward, and I would like to invite you to do so too. As I’m currently living in the center of the outbreak, I may be able to offer useful information to the people in my home country of Argentina to raise awareness of what will inevitably happen there too. My goal is to transform that uncertainty into positive, inspired action. 

In times of confinement and social distancing, it’s interesting to see how our connections have become deeper—no matter where we come from, we’re all in this together. Despite the fear and doubt, we’re supporting one another more than ever.

Empathy and social responsibility are now fundamental. I hope that when this is over—when we meet again in cafés to sip cups of coffee or to walk through the streets of Paris, mingling with the crowds—we can say that kindness is our new normal.