The fresh produce market in Blois was still on today. Our organic vegetable farmer was present and had carefully organized things to respect social distancing. Two people were selling while a third looked after the till. The stalls were also spaced out. Our usual vendors were there – cheese, bread, eggs, Italian produce, coffee, fruit and vegetables but no oysters or fish. Jean Michel went alone (wearing his mask), to respect the one-person-per-household-shopping rule while I stayed home and made Anzac biscuits.
He was stopped on the way by motocycle police to have his self-declaration checked. This is a government form that you print out, date and sign, indicating the reason for your presence outside the home. He had actually left without it and came back to get it before the police stopped him. There is a fine of 135 euros if you don’t have it!
He then went to the supermarket and was able to buy vegetable and flower seeds that we were not able to buy from the gardening store yesterday as they are only allowed to sell pet food for some unknown reason.
Month: March 2020
One thing we can do is garden! We will have to order our seeds on-line though because they are considered non-essential. I’m amused to see that these two pots planted with exactly the same bulbs have given totally different results.
Une chose qu’on peut toujours faire est de jardiner ! Mais nous serons obligés de commander nos graines sur internet car on considère qu’elles ne sont pas essentielles. Je trouve drôle que ces deux pots qui contiennent exactement les mêmes bulbes ont des résultats si différents.
Categories
Covid Confinement Day 3
Having been told that I’m not supposed to be riding a bike or going beyond a 2-km radius from home for physical exercise during the lock-down, I went for a walk in the woods behind our street and saw masses of these beautiful flowers.
Ayant été informée que je ne dois pas faire du vélo ou m’éloigner de la maison de plus de 2 kilomètres je suis allée me promener dans le bois derrière notre rue où j’ai vu ces belles fleurs en grande quantité.
Categories
Covid Confinement – Day 2
During confinement we are allowed individual physical activity so today we took a bike ride through country lanes where we were certain not to find anyone else – and we didn’t!
Pendant le confinement nous pouvons pratiquer une activité individuelle alors nous sommes partis en vélo sur les petites routes de campagne où nous ne risquions pas de croiser d’autres personnes – et nous n’avons vu personne!
We are back in Blois having taken a very early flight from Heraklion. France went into lockdown at midday today. To go food shopping you need to take a self-declaration with you. Also we have discovered that only one person per household can enter the supermarket at the same time and the total number of people inside is severely limited. It seems it was crazy this morning. Some of the shelves are completely empty. There are no dairy products left, for example. Let’s hope it goes back to normal soon.
Nous sommes de retour de Blois ayant pris un vol très matinal à Heraklion. La France a introduit des mesures très strictes à partir de midi aujourd’hui. Pour faire des courses alimentaires il faut remplir une attestation sur l’honneur. Nous venons de découvrir également que la fréquentation est sévèrement réduite et limitée à une personne par foyer. Il semble que le magasin était pris d’assaut ce matin. Certains rayons sont dévastés comme les laitages. Espérons que cela se calme ….
Fortunately the Minoen archeological site at Gournia can be seen from the road. We are cutting short our stay by 3 days and leaving tomorrow at the crack of dawn due to rain, lower temperatures and everything closed but we have really enjoyed our time here.
Heureusement le site archéologique minoen de Gournia est visible depuis la route. Finalement nous raccourcissons notre séjour ici de trois jours et rentrons demain à l’aube à cause de la pluie, les températures plus basses et la fermeture presque totale du pays mais nous avons fait un très bon séjour.
Fortunately we were able to visit one of the oldest oak trees in the world today – at least 3250 years old.
Heureusement nous avons pu visiter l’un des plus vieux oliviers du monde aujourd’hui – au moins 3250 ans d’âge.
This is the very place where I recklessly threw an empty glass over my shoulder into the water on Christmas Eve 1976. I recognized it immediately but that was all. Today Greece closed all its restaurants, cafés, museums and archeological sites until at least 30th March. There are no declared cases of covid 19 in Crete yet.
Voici le lieu exact où j’ai jeté sans vergogne un verre vide par dessus l’épaule dans le port la veille de Noël en 1976. Je l’ai reconnu tout de suite mais c’était tout. Aujourd’hui la Grèce a fermé tous ces restaurants, cafés, musées et sites archéologiques jusqu’au 30 mars au plus tôt. Il n’y a pas encore de cas déclarés de covid 19 en Crète.
