Despite the ravages caused by the pandemic in Asia and in neighboring Italy, Mr. Macron and his wife, Brigitte, had only 10 days earlier attended the theater in Paris to urge people to keep going out despite the outbreak. “The train is what scares me the most,” Ms. Bacca said. Gare Montparnasse was a swirl of rumors, doubts and anxieties in the hours before the lockdown went into effect. “I’m trying to get back to Toulouse,” said Robin Pereira, 20, a student whose train to southern France had just been canceled. “I don’t have a ticket, I’ll get on the train and we’ll see what happens.”

Source: New York Times March 17, 2020 18:00 UTC