Day 2 - SkyLines from the French Lock-down: In Quarantine

Salut, nos amis! (Hiya our friends!)

Day 2 of the French quarantine - or lock-down to my mind.  Of course, maybe I'm just being a bit dramatic.  Writers tend to be that way....

The view of Canigou Mountain from our terrace

But it does seem strange to have to carry a sworn statement of  intent to go out and buy your daily loaf of bread - or baguette, as we call it!  Anyway, it sure has cut down on the car pollution!  I said I would talk about the lead in to this yesterday, so here goes:

Just two weeks ago, my French partner, "Y" and I celebrated our birthdays.  They are a week apart so we reveled in several days of happiness and topped it with a trip to the spa at Banyuls

Lunch at the Thalasso Spa

sur Mer, a little sea-side town just a few miles closer to Spain than we are in Argèles sur Mer.
The day was beautiful, the gourmand lunch fabulous, and the baths, sauna, and other pampering treats were a great way to relax and be warm. 
We knew the epidemic had arrived in France but our region had no reported cases. We also knew the chlorine in the water would kill nearly anything.  We did not worry.  It was good to float in the warm magnesium infused waters on a winter's day.  

Les Angles Ski Resort

A week ago, we skied with a neighbor.  It was sunny and warm.  Another great day out.  Nobody was worried about anything except the fact that no new snow was forecast.  We were afraid there would be no more skiing this season.
But  just four days later, on the 15th of March, all cafes, bars, and restaurants were closed for two weeks as a precautionary measure.  While disappointed, we understood.  There was snow forecast for the following week.  We planned to go for a short ramble with Y's brother and sister in law.  We hoped the closing of cafes would be enough to slow the virus down.

Some of that pasta & frozen veg!

But, within two days we heard rumors that drastic action would be needed.  They closed the ski resorts.  We knew it was getting serious and must be getting close to us too.  So, all plans to go out were shelved.  Each hour,  the numbers kept mounting on the Corona-Virus Dashboard. https://ncov2019.live/  We knew it was just a matter of time before we would be quarantined. So we thought about what we would need to have if we really couldn't go far from home and we went shopping.  
No cart full of toilet paper for us, just our normal shopping.  I'm a vegetarian and Y loves his meat so we bought an extra package or three of those things we have to drive to the big store to buy.  We hoped we will be able to buy fresh fruit and vegetables in our corner stores. 
The weekend passed and we heard that new measures were being considered.  We decided to stock up on pasta, canned goods, dry milk, and a couple of frozen pizzas and bags of frozen veggies.  This was the day before the announcement but already the cereal and sausages were

The Pasta Aisle!

running low.  The pasta aisle was nearly empty!  You could still find some, but mostly it was the organic or high end brands.  We decided it was worth the extra Euro or two and bought them. I'm sure glad we did because the quarantine arrived on Tuesday.
Although we live together in Argèles, my house is in another village.  We went there and deep watered the philodendron, and grabbed all the books, sheet music, writing material, and dry goods I had there.  I also grabbed the box with all the recipes saved from magazines and newspapers.  I realized this was a good time to finally make order of that mountain!

Papers, please...

This is the Wednesday after the mid-day shut down yesterday.  We took our papers with us and walked a meter apart to the center of the village.  The Gendarmes were in evidence and checked the papers of anyone who wasn't respecting the distance rules.  

Barriers at the Supermarket 

Y bought our baguette and I went to the little market store and bought a few vegetables.  I was reassured that the store looked like always.  The only difference was the check out.  Each of us waited a meter away from the person in front of us and also a meter away from the check-out clerk.  She wore rubber gloves.  I wished for her sake that she'd had a plastic shield in front of her like the clerks at the supermarket we shopped in on Monday.  Like most people, I paid with my debit card.  Nobody wants touch money at this moment!
I joined my partner and we walked back to the house.  We had a lovely lunch and watched a bit of the news, but not too much.  It's definitely not positive stuff!
The larger part of the afternoon was spent on the terrace reading and writing. 

One way to while the time away

 I did hear a police bullhorn tell someone to respect the rules and stay in their house.  I couldn't see where it was so I don't know why.  A few neighbors were on their terraces and we waved to one another and wished each other well.  We all were thankful for the sunshine and mild weather.
Then we took a short bike ride.  Yes - papers and more than a meter apart!  When my chain got jammed, some neighbors wanted to help.  But they could only stand at their doors or balconies and give advice.  Y worked it out for me - with me at an appropriate distance. of course. It's all good.  

We are thinking positive.  This is being done to protect people.  It's not a punishment or an inconvenience.  It's a moment to reflect on the fact that we are all lucky to be alive.  We're all in this together.  You may save someone's life by keeping your distance.  So, take advantage of the beauty of the world, reflect, read, think, sing, or dance.  Share with us what you're doing.  We're going to have dinner and be thankful. 

A demain, nos amis!  (Until tomorrow, our friends.)

Link to Day 3