Silent Cities by Jeffrey H. Loria

Author:Jeffrey H. Loria
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2021-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

OCEAN DRIVE COUPLE

An Ocean Drive couple strolling past the historic Avalon Hotel with its makeshift window signage advertising takeout food and delivery services.

MIAMI BEACH POLICE CAR

Police cars barricading the beaches during the pandemic.

CORAL GABLES THEATER

Marquee messages of encouragement, “Stay Safe and Strong—We’ll See You Soon!”

Paris is Europe’s epicenter of art, architecture, cuisine, and fashion. Defined by some of the most impressive architectural landmarks in the world, it is a place whose splendor and allure are best captured by exploring its glorious and historic neighborhoods. Appropriately called the “City of Light,” its beauty shone until darkness descended. Through horrifyingly evil acts of terrorism and Notre Dame Cathedral’s devastating fire, Paris had demonstrated admirable strength and resilience during the last decade. But with the spread of the coronavirus at unprecedented speed in the early months of 2020, the French capital’s luminosity was blurred once again, in inconceivable ways.

PARIS

Like everywhere else in the world, Paris went into hiding in plain sight, trying to wait out a pandemic. Protective masks replaced smiles, and from the despair of covered faces, its residents saw a city silenced by shuttered shops, museums, and tourist destinations. The metros, scarcely running, were no longer overflowing with commuters. The boarded-up cafés and bistros along the wide-open avenues were troubling sights to witness. Even the picturesque Seine River seemed to stand still, devoid of boat traffic and lifeless, its waters looking eerily like a painting from another time. By mid-March, the Arc de Triomphe stood alone at the top of the unusually desolate Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Other avenues, which spring out from it like bicycle spokes, were also empty. The Eiffel Tower, probably one of the world’s most recognizable beacons of architecture, was without its thousands of daily tourists queuing for a guided tour of its massive wrought-iron framework. But while the constricting and dangerous pandemic severely threatened the city’s spirit, its vibrancy never dimmed even as Parisians sheltered in place, eagerly anticipating basking in the City of Light’s brilliance once again.

Photographs by Andrew Strauss

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