With the exception of having to wear a mask, none of the previously mentioned “can’t do” have affected me at all. I retired here for the peace and quiet of the countryside. Never saw the need to be entertained regularly by others, I’ve get enough fun just watching and listening to the wildlife I attract by feeding the birds and planting the right plants for insects.
No, I’m not a saddo, just enjoying my little bit of paradise.
But we can do all of the things you list Timothy - we are doing them. Why not? It’s just that some venues are closed.
As I mentioned above, we went out for a lovely meal for our anniversary a couple of weeks ago - with the bonus of a night in a hotel afterwards, no driving home late at night so unrestrained drinking, and great breakfast the next day too!
Apart from going out to eat and having my coffee in the bar yes things are pretty much unchanged. I’ve just come in from a 3 hour training ride with 10 club mates, now off to do all the family stuff as normal, just need to be home by 7pm. Our weekly resto has been replaced with a take-away and I make a pretty good espresso myself so no problems there, catch up on all the bar chat when I bump into people. If I wasn’t working/was retired, and the kids were grown up and I did indoor things then I’d probably feel differently but that isn’t the case, not yet anyway!
You’re flogging a dead horse here.
So you can play badminton or go swimming in your local pool or go to the cinema followed by a sit down meal in a restaurant? You are very lucky Geof, clearly no one told our Prefecture about the relaxation of the restrictions as nothing as open here, the best we’ve got is a couple of new food trucks.
Be grateful Tim. It’s doing all those things that means the cases in France are still rising. And within a nation where large numbers are refusing to be vaccinated and where social distancing means sweet F.A.
It is the health v economy argument that we had in the UK. I think economy won to start, but now health is in the ascendant. You don’t seem to be able to have them both, hence France now has as many daily new cases as the UK in a week. I find it a bit ironic that somebody as, dare I say woke, as Geoff is in the same bed as the likes of Steve Baker, Sir Graham Brady and Mark Francois.
Being in the same bed as Mark François is a dangerous place - allegedly. I am still puzzled how he was allowed to continue to vote whilst absent - normally à rule permitted for pregnant ladies.
Ah but he runs a gite and goes to hotels and stays overnight.
He can’t be short of a bob or two.
Why kind shop and where…just interested?
Actually we do play badminton and swim and watch films - just as we have always done - at home.
Cinemas are closed, and we used to go occasionally, but it’s no big deal - and as others have pointed out in their areas, the restaurants are all doing more-or-less their normal meals - 3 courses - just as takeaways. If all you have is a couple of food trucks I agree that is more of an adjustment.
Not sure why you say that Sue. Are you in France? - and if so where? Nothing I’ve said implies that all the precautions are not being followed. They are - my impression here is that mask wearing is universal, social distancing kept up, etc, etc
Then you are fortunate. Mask wearing by most, yes. But then there is the (usually) male, elderly curmudgeon who has his tucked under his chin. I watched one curse a helpful (male) shop assistant in Gamm Vert two days ago. Then there are the ones who continue to believe that the mask is worn below the nose, so that a usually large protuberance is sniffing and sneezing and huffing and puffing at the rest of us - as innumerable cartoons have shown us.
I’m amazed you don’t have workers round you (eg builders, roofers, electricians, plumbers, telecoms engineers) all working together, maskless. Their excuse no doubt would be that they are in the open air.
I watched mothers clustered round a school gate waiting for their kids to come out. About half were maskless. Again, no doubt, they would say they are in the open air.
And as for social distancing, one metre has never been far enough apart and even that is too much for many. I watched a couple who had met up in Leclerc carpark huddle together for a gossip right by the boot of my car. I would have had to climb over the two of them to reach it. So I politely (from a distance) explained it was my car and would they mind moving a bit further away. I was snarled at. Wearing a mask certainly gives people permission to stand closer to each other. There is a false sense of security.
Usually yes, but yesterday I drove through Bergerac and there’s a café on a roundabout by a church which attracts a lot of casos and bingo there they all were about 20 of them all agglutinés drinking god knows what, no masks obv and outside but 0 social distancing. Mind you thinking about it covid is probably the least of their worries.
Warnings from doctors in Paris
Un tabac (Le Jean Guillaume) à Carmaux dans le Tarn 
" We can do all the things you list Timothy - We are doing them"
“Not sure why you say that Sue. Are you in France? - and if so where? Nothing I’ve said implies that all the precautions are not being followed. They are - my impression here is that mask wearing is universal, social distancing kept up, etc, etc”
What you say Geof makes no sense - Everywhere we go people are failing to follow the recommended mesures - Social distancing in our local supermarkets and Brico markets are no longer observed and have yet to find one where we do not have to loudly remind others to keep their distance. Mask wearing, as Sue says, is a joke amongst the elderly who seem to thinK the nose is a contamination free zone and should be allowed out in the open. “Where are you living - On the Moon?”
I suppose you will be telling us next that the Virus is just like the flu and that we all need to get back to ‘Normal’ - We have been separated from friends and family for a year now and the sooner that all the “naysayers” buckle down and grasp the reality of what is happening here in France, hundreds of thousands infected - nearly a hundred thousand dead, the sooner we all might have the opportunity to spend time with loved ones and perhaps enjoy a celebratory meal as you did,
This is a bit like all those posts about other things the French are supposed to be so bad at - all the same sorts of things were said about driving in another thread recently. I live in Brittany and have traveled recently pretty widely here - including to Rennes, our biggest city - and I just don’t recognise you account of the way people are behaving. It is simply not like that here.
The only conclusion I can draw if your observations are accurate is that the Bretons are much more sensible than people in some other parts of France (which was indeed the conclusion I drew from the ‘driving’ thread! - they are easily the most considerate drivers I’ve ever come across).
