On our way home for breakfast Sophie wanders over to explore The Old Farmers garden. Prolonged absences with his 'lady friend' have given the house an abandoned air. The concrete vase that was knocked over still sits at a jaunty angle on his driveway. Our neighbour has taken to leaving a bowl of milk out for the village C-A-T-S on his visits home. Sophie can hear their meowing but hasn't figured out that the C-A-T-S are enjoying themselves on his balcony.
The little market town deserted. We're too early for the cafe to open. Dog and master retire back to the car park without a coffee, bowl of water or curly croissant ends.
En route to the car a moment of excitement. A town C-A-T wanders along the pavement oblivious to the fact that there is a PONette coming in the other direction. Sophie makes her displeasure plain. Any residents hoping for a quiet Monday morning lie in will be disappointed. The C-A-T hurries to safety behind the grille of a newly opened shop selling cannabis oil.
More and more shops are closing. The pandemic putting the final nail in the coffin of town centre decline ( cannabis oil excepted ). Bucking the trend the row of shops near where we've parked has turned into a restauration rapide hub. I count no less than nine new fast food outlets. Takeaway has arrived in deepest, deepest France profonde.
Any thought of going to the Olympics evaporated a year ago. The hotel continues to e-mail in the hope we might rebook. How would you enforce these latest dining rules ? ( Scroll down to the Please Note para ) :https://www.fourseasons.com/tokyo/dining/
6 comments:
No worries about the dining rules at the Four Seasons. Those are the old "quasi-emergency" rules, from today we are back in a real "stage of emergency," with restaurants being told not to serve any alcohol at all and close by 7. This is not being received well, especially after the Economic Minister suggested the government would ask banks to speak with their restaurant clients about compliance with the alcohol ban, although the government would not, absolutely never (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) encourage the banks to restrict lending to noncompliers. He retreated quickly, but the damage was done. Meanwhile, one of our local restaurateurs is leading a rebellion:https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japans-kill-bill-restaurant-operator-defies-new-virus-curbs-2021-07-09/ So far, not a thing has happened to him, and the customers are lined up down the block every evening. Which has, predictably, encouraged others to do the same. At least the Four Seasons has not, to my knowledge, done what one other mid-town hotel got caught doing - labeling its elevators "Japanese" and "Foreign."
Just Sophie, Angus and an unsuspecting cat - what a good way to start the week (though the locals might not agree)! Amazing just how quiet the streets are in your little market town, but with so many shops closed I suppose there is no reason to get up early. It's busier here, and the beach is already crowded by 8:30 every morning and nowhere to park unless you pay, but of course being a holiday town makes such a big difference.
This time last year we all speculated on how dire things would be if the pandemic lasted much longer, this year we're beginning to see the results. Things look reasonably normal here, then I realise that many of the shops, cafés and restaurants have changed hands, and some have a very temporary feel to them. Seasonal now, rather than the long term businesses we've known over the years. Some are obviously hoping the make a killing in one season, and judging by the number of tourists arriving, they may be lucky. The downside is, of course, that virus numbers have already spiked enough to cause concern, and for the very first time our area has an alarmingly high number of new cases.
What could be a worse start to the week than no curly croissant ends?
Er, England losing on penalties again? (Although the person who let off fireworks in my neighbourhood the minute after Italy clinched victory last night clearly didn't share my feeling...)
Cheers! Gail.
PS The ballgown bird is indeed truly amazing. What a shot!
NBot sure being herded into a lift for 'Foreigners' would generate a lot of repeat custom.
See that Germany and Spain have put Spain on the ' don't travel there' list although what that means and how it's applied is now beyond human comprehension.
No curly croissant ends is indeed a bad start to the week.
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