I've lived in Paris for 6 years, and the city is so much better without the tourists

Normally there is a queue snaking along outside the famous glass pyramid, which acts as the main entrance to the Louvre. When I went, there was not a single person in front of me, and with my pre-booked ticket and mask firmly in place, I sailed through the entrance and spent hours looking at every corner of the vast museum without even once feeling irritated by other visitors.

Most visitors will mention Montmartre as their favorite area of Paris, and it has suffered for its popularity. The hill-top district that pre-COVID was so overrun that you could barely see the cobbles on the streets has now gone back to its village atmosphere, and I even managed to take a photo of Sacre Coeur without any people in the shot.

To make business easier for the hard-hit cafés and restaurants, the mayor of Paris allowed them to spread onto the street-side parking outside their venues. This made for nice little oases in the middle of the city, and the ruling will be in place until next year at the very least.

Many cafés have taken on the craze of the Nounours des Gobelins, the teddy bears of the Gobelins quarter, as a means of social distancing. Gigantic, cuddly teddy bears are popping up across the city to keep guests separated on terraces.

In the Marais, the lovely Place des Vosges is now a perfect spot for an impromptu lunchtime picnic on the normally crowded lawn.

A walk is only a walk if you can step out without dodging too many people. With the pleasure boats mostly moored and few sightseers, the quays of the Seine are a perfect spot for a weekend walk with some scenic stops.

Many busy thoroughfares in the centre of Paris, such as the Rue de Rivoli running past the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens, have now been closed to traffic and made into cycle lanes. The change to the noise and pollution levels in the centre is already noticeable.

Because of the fewer crowds and the traffic reductions, you can now visit the Tuileries Gardens, find one of those iconic green chairs, sit back, read a book, and hear the birds sing — previously unheard of.

As a resident and as a travel writer, I enjoy taking pictures of Paris, and they have been vastly improved without tourists wearing shorts and sandals with socks in every picture.

Even the forever popular Arc de Triomphe has been turned into a pigeon parking lot. Now, I can capture the important sights without someone's selfie stick waving in my face.

The Eiffel Tower is on everybody's to-do list, and as such always attracts long queues — even with pre-booked tickets.

Not now. You can sail through to the top for views without having to push others out of the way.

There are so many beautiful metro stations in the city, but you historically have been able to tell when you've arrived in Paris by the utter stench of the public transport.

Now, the metro carriages, entrances, and every corner of the stations are disinfected every day, and the metro never has smelled sweeter.

With residents being constantly reminded to wear a mask, wash and sanitize hands, and keep others at a distance, it saves a lot of time and effort to have hand sanitizer dispensers located at most bus stops and larger metro stations, and at every shop entrance. The machines at the bus stop are especially great, as the sanitizer is not sticky.

When in Paris, even during a pandemic, fashion is important. Mask-wearing is obligatory throughout the entire city, and shopping for masks has become the new hobby.

Most boutiques offer masks, and you can get patterns to go with every outfit and mood, making masking up so much more fun and painless.

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