Crooked House

A country life in France

I see some light at the end of this tunnel

Having been terribly slack about keeping my Lockdown v2.0 diary up to date, it is now time to make a few notes. I have been busy blogging away elsewhere so will have something to look back on in the future.

The French PM spoke to the country last night and although the news was not the best that we had all hoped for, we do now begin to see an end coming. Lockdown v2.0 finishes at midnight on the 14th of December.

Not to get too excited, we will not find ourselves with unlimited liberty.

What we can do: travel between regions and out of France, without a formal purpose and accompanying Attestation.

What we cannot do: Stay out after 8pm; go out to dinner; go to a film or a show; gather in groups of more than 6 adults.

To us this brings the possibility of going away in the motorhome and even the prospect of heading off to Iberia. There are Buts.

…But campsites remain closed and individual Mairies may choose not to open any aires that they may have closed for the Lockdown.

…But Spain is placing restrictions on Inter Regional travel over the holiday period.

…But we didn’t like the mask-wearing rules in Spain and aren’t keen on doing that again.

…But the cat needs reacquainting with the van and this may have to be done a night or two at a time.

…But we have to take the car in for fixing on Dec 17th

One decidedly important But is “But I need to be in France for my Covid immunisation jabs.” I am apparently due for my first jab in February. We believe that it is sensible to stay within reach of home until I receive notification about that.

Our thinking has got as far as:
# Starting with short trips, for Dusty’s benefit
# Electing not to go off immediately the law permits, due to immediate commitments
# Choosing to stay home for the Crooked Man’s Birthday dinner, which will be at the weekend following, as he has to go to town with the car on his actual birthday
# Start packing the van ASAP and disappear for Christmas

(the updated WP editor appears to have a bug in it when it comes to bulleted lists)

We recognise the feasibility of going down to the Med after the holiday period. It’s close enough to get back into France for my jabs but we would have to come all the way home to get the authorising document, if it works the same way as the Flu jabs. The second jab would only require a quick crossing of the border. Alcossebre is therefore a distinct possibility but weather will define travel possibilities in January so perhaps we are looking at the three week window in February/March between jabs.

Whatever we choose to do, for now it’s just wonderful to be able to make some sketchy plans and believe that something might well happen.

I am not so daft as to believe that a Lockdown v3.0 is an impossibility at this stage, even with a vaccine heaving into view. The holidays will cause a spike in virus case numbers and an individual’s vaccination takes a month to be effective, with the first vaccines being rolled out only in January. It’s going to remain a lengthy road back to normality.

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