Week 5

How strange it was to experience Easter weekend in Paris this year. The silence was loud; only broken by sirens of ambulances  and emergency vehicles.  The sun shone, the wind blew and filtered golden  pollen dust into every crack on the boat. We stayed inside the Port as sunny , warm days bring people outside for their hour of exercise in larger numbers than usual. . Running and jogging have been banned between 10AM and 19:00 hours but walkers and dog walkers and essential shopping trips seem to multiply on such days . Masks are strongly encouraged but have not been made compulsory as they ought in our opinion.  We decided to stay put until Wednesday . Numbers have risen  alarmingly here over the last week although yesterday brought a drop in new cases. Will it hold is the question? Now everyone is doing their Monday morning quarterbacking  and yes, steps could have been taken earlier here and in every country as far as we can see. Companies could have been ramped up to fortify stocks of PPE and masks and hand sanitizer and ventilators in January if everyone had been wise enough to acknowledge the science,  the speed of contagion and the swiftness of death. There was time for the rest of the world to get moving and prepare and get testing organized…but it did not happen unless the country was in east Asia and understood what happens when a highly contagious virus hits dense populations.  

Our week has passed  and Macron has spoken to the nation on Monday night extending the lockdown until May 11. It is proposed that there will be some lifting at that time for workers and child care and schools. Exactly how that will all transpire is in planning stages. One thing seems clear is that older people will be expected to continue the lockdown.  

So we have completed our weekly shopping trip. John goes to a Franprix close by and I head to the greengrocer. The produce is still amazing, people are mostly very careful to keep distance and wear a mask although we do notice some younger people who must feel they are immune, pushing boundaries. But overall we say the population of this dense city is respectful and careful and abiding by the rules. Yes, we must fill out trackable phone attestations but to me it seems to be an excellent way to keep folks minding the reasons, distance and time restrictions, for outings. Frankly it gives us peace of mind that there is an orderly society in this pandemic. Without order and compliance we are all at very grave risk.

 We worry about families in small apartments, people who have nothing in the bank to fall back upon, people waiting for their assistance, not knowing where rent will come from. France has relief packages and plans and we can only hope there are very few who fall between cracks. The expectancy here in this city is that 40% of cafes, bars and restaurants will never reopen.  We are fortunate that France has done so much to  try and flatten the curve and we are grateful to the government for the job they are doing.  After all when one knows that the Marais sector of Paris alone has over 55,000 nights of Airbnb it is a miracle that cases are where they are. That does not count any other arrondissement or include hotel or hostel rooms. It is a heavily visited city with people from all over the world. Right now there are 150,000 cases and over 18,000 deaths with the east of France and the Paris area most affected.

With all the talk of reopening in the USA  and the UK we fear that without orderly testing and tracking there will be second, third and fourth waves of contagion. After all a reopening date is just a date. Without clear plans and testing it is just asking for more cases to develop. None of us are safe from COVID-19 until there is a vaccine;  end of story.

No One but Me 

My Disguise

Trusty Cart

A New Recipe

Escalope of Chicken filled with Garlic, Goat Cheese & Spinach in White Wine Sauce

La Poste Pick Up Line-A Story for Another Time!

Jeanne Rowing Jerome ( her Dad) to Bahamas

Full Moon Over the Port

Muffin Day

Easter Quiche

Avec Salade Verte

Furniture Rearranging

Parasol on Loan

Sheltering in Place

Where We Were Last Spring on this Day

A Quarantine Day

What does one do on another quarantine day aboard the boat in Paris?

Arise early;

Feed Oscar

and before anyone else is out, go for an exercise walk/trot for the allowed 1 hour carrying your attestation, identity papers and a spray bottle of isopropanol alcohol . 

Use up almost the hour then dash to the boulangerie. Wait outside if someone is inside and enter after they exit and buy 2 loaves of pain de campagne.  

Carry the bags homes, get into the gate with the code after spraying the key pad

Spray the paper bread bags, the door handle and yourself before entering the boat

Turn on the oven and put the bread loaves in for an extra hot 10 minute bake

Wash your hands before and after that activity.

Shower and put on fresh clothes

Throw your outdoor gear in the laundry
Tell John he may want to get up

Make some fresh fruit & yoghurt for breakfast. Take a vitamin

Read the latest statistics on you know what

Have a coffee

Play with Oscar

Hang out the wash

Tidy the boat and do a bit of vacuuming

Spray disinfectant on  door handles, taps, fridge ,oven doors, countertops, phones and anything frequently handled.

Have a play with Oscar

Do emails

Make contact with the outside world in some way

Sit on deck if the weather is good and sun warm

Do some squats or lunges

Read the latest on WhatsApp & send a few

Check your list of what you want to accomplish today

Tidy up a couple of drawers

Make a tea
Play some Gin Rummy. . .yes we have agreed to start that up again

Talk to Jerome and Reginette and Jeanne on the boat next door. At a very safe distance of about 6 metres.

Wave at Charlette who is 87, across the canal (made a dinner dish for her, must pick up my plate so we can do another)

Plan dinner for tonight

Assess the grocery supply…yes we have TP but what about the wine?

Talk live to family & loved ones using Zoom or WhatsApp
Talk over together, yet again, our current situation 

Take in the wash

Meditate

Read an inspiring /interesting story

Feed Oscar

Make dinner & enjoy our meal

Applaud the Health workers at 20:00 hours along with all our neighbours

Stretch

Plan tomorrow. Make a list of things to do/accomplish/think about

Assess the list you made for today; completed??

Watch some episode of something

Have an orange

Go to bed

Read

Sleep

Start again. . .you get the picture

(John's day is slightly different and he might share that with you at some point )

Immune Booster Soup

Resting

Paris Fashion Dress for Shopping

Exercise Route

Opera That Will not Happen

Early Morning: the Best time to Go Out

Cat Yoga & Meditation: Follow the Guru