We head off to our usual greengrocers in the car. A blue Peugeot van with 3 gendarmes in it waves us down at the roundabout. They demand to see my travel permit. We are told to head back. ' You should shop within 10 kilometres of your home Monsieur. Next time there will be a fine ! '. Back in Britain Angus would have pointed out we don't have a store within 10 kilometres of our front door. However, when it comes to dealing with gendarmes silence is a foreigners wisest counsel.
22 degrees forecast for today. That's somewhere in the 70's. The warm weather brings out swarms of happy to be alive butterflies. The small orange ones flit around us as we head down the lane. Sophie races off to the water hole by the horse field. She drinks inelegantly and loudly. Back at The Rickety Old Farmhouse she chases round and round the garden at high speed pursuing things only she can see. Angus talks to men in dark suits. They see the economy shrinking by a quarter between March and June. Then a long slow recovery. A 25% drop in output would be unprecedented.
We drive off to the other little market town. It's 18 kilometres away. No gendarmes cross our path. The greengrocers has some sweet red apples for 'The Font' and some not quite fresh Granny Smiths for Angus. One of the Granny Smiths is borderline yellow and looks as if it might have been on display for some time. We may need to go there again so for the second time Angus opts to say nothing.
They do however have strawberries. Angus buys six punnets. 'The Font' will have two or three sliced over muesli. Angus could quite happily live on them.
No milk in the shops today. A sign on the Post Office door ' Closed until further notice'. Two Police cars parked by the market hall.
19 comments:
Sophie and the wildflowers are a lovely combination.
Yes that is such a lovely photo of Sophie romping among the daisies. Will she also enjoy a slice of strawberry, the daily croissant sliver at the café not being possible at the moment?
Sophie loathes strawberries. In fact she loathes anything red. Everything else, in whatever colour, she adores. This golden rule makes PON feeding simple.
What, Sophie doesn't like strawberries!! Inca adores them - but then, being a Lab., she adores just about everything edible!
Undecided weather here this morning, but we'll go out for our walk in about an hour. One dog and one walker, that's the new rule, but at least we can get out into the fresh air and take some exercise. You know things are bad when seeing the binman twice makes your day!
What nice weather, and to have strawberries seems perfect. It is crazy times. Glad to hear that you could sneak off. Our streets are quieter, but still lots of people around, and lots at the library and swimming pools I passed on my way home from work.
A tractor, the old mayors car and four couriers the only vehicles that came through the village yesterday plus the post lady but she doesn't know how long deliveries will continue. Where all the villagers have hone is anyones guess.
France absolutely deserted. Passed one other car on my way to the small market town. We waved at each other.
We are currently in the UK and were due to travel back to France a few days ago. During our few months absence, someone has broken into one of the Caves, turned on the mains water and drainage valve. We only found out as we received a huge water bill sent to the UK. We are keen to assess the damage. So now we wait anxiously to return to the Convent. A friend in St Geniez, has told us there is the strangest 'vibe' percolating and the tension is palpable. Stay safe everyone x
What a horrible thing to have happen to you. The French having ignored the threat have now gone in the other direction and look unfavourably on anyone doing anything outside. A strange mixture of anxiety and suspicion permeates the land. Everyone wants to stand two metres away - the post lady, courier drivers, shop assistants. This results in a strange 'arms length' way of interacting.
Reports here (US) are that gun sales have skyrocketed, and ammunition is difficult to find. Americans seem to look for any excuse to buy more guns. This time many have convinced themselves that food will become so scarce that marauding mobs will be storming their homes and stealing their supplies and that they need "to protect their families." That last phrase being a Fox News mantra of sorts.
Might be my imagination but the wisteria appears to be thickening up. Looking forward to the annual display.
Well spotted. Just once I'd like to get a photo of the wisteria nd the peonies out together.
Wow - your libraries and swimming pools are still open? Our libraries all closed last week - Washington state in the U.S..
Sophie of course grazes on the buttercups. Should we be worried ?
Here in SE USA, I was asked recently if I thought the virus was a "hoax." However, this view has not stopped folks from hoard shopping. No TP, no paper towels, no cleaning supplies. A friend recently posted the following, which is good for a laugh: September morning 2050: John opened the last package of toilet paper bought by his parents in 2020. You have beautiful grounds and a lovely area to walk in. The photos are refreshing.
I see lots of people out walking in the afternoon, but this morning I passed only a couple of dog walkers, who didn't say bonjour. I know almost everybody, or thought I did, but the village has added several new lotissements and I figured the dog walkers, whom I'd never seen before, were among the newcomers, probably looking askance at me for being out with no animal excuse. Otherwise I saw nobody.
I did talk to our neighbors, with a two-meter stone wall separating us. Another neighbor, a doctor, says the hospital is receiving lots of very sick people.
As for the grocery store distance, what do kilometers matter? What matters is how many people you encounter, not how many kilometers you drove. Next time, tell them your preferred place has some special food you can find only there that's essential for your diet.
Strawberries and Granny Smiths. You and I share the same taste in fruit, and dogs.
The strawberries look amazing. In these times it is better to bite your tongue sometimes. It is a lovely -4 here today.
Are you hoarding strawberries?
6 punnets probably puts me in that category although they'll only last a couple of days max.
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