Sean Thomas has narrated this article for you to listen to.
You know that feeling when you haven’t seen someone for several years and when you do, you really notice the changes? Generally it is a melancholy moment: you spot the extra wrinkles, the added pounds. Occasionally it can be positive: gym-toned physique, amusing new green-and-orange hair. Lots of us had these moments as we emerged, blinking and bewildered, from the bunker of Covid.
I’ve just had this same experience, but with a city. Paris. The French capital is a place that I know well. I must have visited a dozen times over the decades. I’ve seen the Louvre Pyramid go up, I’ve seen Notre-Dame go down in flames (on TV, in a horrified airport in Vegas). But I have not been to Paris since before the pandemic, so I was keen to check out how the old girl was doing.
The Rue de Rivoli, that most sublime of shopping streets, is mainly occupied by American candy stores
The first sign that Paris was not doing well came when I arrived at Gare du Nord.
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