PARIS: With coronavirus vaccinations accelerating and infections down, the French are looking forward to the loosening of many coronavirus restrictions Wednesday, although outdoor lunches at restaurants risk being rained off.

Groups of up to six will be able to eat together as restaurant terraces open at 50-percent capacity, joining museums, theatres and cinemas, while the curfew will be pushed back from 7 to 9:00 pm.

It is the latest step in a gradual reopening plan that began with allowing inter-regional travel from the start of May.

"Resuming social contact is one of the factors in public wellbeing," public health chief Jerome Salomon told the JDD Sunday newspaper.

Some restaurant owners were already complaining about the limits on hospitality, especially given the risk of rain in what has so far been a wet May.

"Imagine you get the whole machine started again, create a new menu, get all your staff back, but then you have to cancel everything and throw your merchandise away because it's raining," star chef Philippe Etchebest told the JDD.

What's more, less than half of restaurants across France even have space for outdoor dining, he said.

"Impossible," Etchebest concluded, adding that he would wait until the next turn of the ratchet on June 9, when some indoor dining and drinking will be allowed.