On the far side of the car park there's a group of fifteen or so retired folk gathering for a start of day walk. They're clustered together, laughing and chatting away. Only one of them is wearing a mask and that is covering her mouth, not her nose. Presumably, they think that being outdoors keeps them safe. The Calvinist in Angus wonders whether he should point out that it's best to keep a metre apart, preferably two. Instead I opt to follow Sophie as she pursues the pigeons.
By the time I catch up with my companion she is eyeing the swans on the river. There is something in her look that tells me she's weighing up whether it would be a good idea to leap in the water and give chase. My arrival interrupts her chain of thought and we head off towards the boat dock.
The trees in the little market town have been pruned into a rather stylish shape. The town hall is housed in a castle that was built by Richard the Lion Heart. Much of it was re-modelled in a more livable style just before the French revolution. What remains of the old building are four tall, thin corner towers. They are unlike anything else I've ever seen in France. They'd be more at home in San Gimignano.
The Monday morning hunters gatherings have started up again. A dozen or so cars parked on the village green , another dozen at the back of the village hall. Through the plate glass windows I can see forty or fifty hunters mingling together enjoying a morning glass of Cognac. They are all wearing identical orange outfits. Not one of them is wearing a mask. Time to start preparing for France to go into a major lockdown.
13 comments:
Times like these make you wonder about the IQ of some people. New Zealand has had a case of Civid identified in the community - a person who'd done their 14 days in a Managed Isolation Hotel, but tested positive after being released. Three things of note -(1) it would seem she caught it in the hotel (2) she had religiously scanned whenever she'd gone into anywhere after she was released, so tracking her movements was easy, and (3) since the country has been told, Covid tracking use is skyrocketing - but of course that doesn't catch the people who hadn't tracked their movements when she was in the community. We've just got to pray they will be able to contain it. The next week will tell.
In the environs of Aberdeen, we saw plenty of people out and about, walking and running etc. and the vast majority were obeying the rules, being with just one other person or in a credible family/household group. This city is hardly a hotbed of religious fervour, but some of the strict and careful Calvinist approach to life is detectable!
I have been shocked to hear on my phone rounds from friends/acquaintances that they are out socializing. One is sick and swears it's just a cold because he can still smell, but he hangs out with a neighbor who doesn't believe Covid exists and who hosts big gatherings. So even if this neighbor is the only person he sees, that's all it takes. Everybody tells me "we have to live."
Also, what's with the tourists? Brits, Spaniards. I see the allure of escaping to a place with low infection rates, but Belgium is closing its borders because they realized it's travelers who are responsible for spread.
Sophie looks very thoughtful. I sense that 2021 will continue to be another year if upheaval for most of us.
So glad that Sophie was "dissuaded" from chasing the swans - they've lived to swim another day! I notice that some of my trees have recently been pruned into the stylish shape too - must be the latest fashion in gardening sophistication.
UK tourists arriving here by camper van, hoping to escape the stringent restrictions in force at home, and no doubt bringing the virulent UK virus strain with them. What is it about stay at home and stay safe, that so many people just don't understand?
Angus, I'm surprised that there are so many in your corner of France, that don't seem to be taking notice of the restrictions. But of course there are those who think it doesn't apply to to them.
I fear that hunters everywhere, together with a segment of senior citizens, are of the opinion that being out in the open air removes all risk. The clustering together while being in the open air is ignored on the basis it doesn't apply to them.
I'm sure things will improve over 2020, but maybe not in a straight line.
We are fortunate in being remote. I've seen a couple of Brit cars and a handful of Spanish ones over the last month but most of the incomers from Paris who are teleworking. This may explain why the internet moves so slowly at certain times during the day.
I fear centuries of Presbyterianism have made East Coast Scots irredeemably prudent. This of course does not apply to all parts of the Central Lowlands or the islands.
People always forget to check how clean hotel airconditioning units are. Remember that worry of the 80's -Legionnaires disease ?
Swans can be rather scary in my experience, so probably better Sophie didn't make the leap.
Do I recognise Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave?
Yes. It's looking very bleak and quiet in a mid-winter lockdown.
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