Day 29 - SkyLines from the French Lock-down: Enfants Gâtés (Spoiled Children)

Salut chers amis! (Hi dear friends!) 
It's another day in quarantine...seems like we've been doing this for a while now.  But it's okay. Some readers were worried yesterday that I was feeling depressed. I was just trying to be realistic about how much of the news we can believe. But, it's true the rain made me feel more confined than usual. I know, I’m a spoiled kid in the south of France! I loved the message that said, "Don't worry, the sun will come out tomorrow!" She was right.

Blue Skies - help lift the spirit!

Day 29 - This morning, sunshine filled the house. Once again, we had no big plans for the day. Another day in quarantine in paradise, right? It went exactly as you might imagine. Breakfast,

The Post Office is on Route Nationale

Exercise, Music, Reading - there is a sameness to the days. Then I received an email that said I had to go pick up a package at the post office - Oh Boy!  An outing! I nearly knocked my chair over in my happy haste to comply. I hurriedly filled in my Attestation paper and checked the appropriate box, which I decided was "physical activity" since I wasn't sure it fit the "buying items of essential need" but maybe I should have chosen, "official summons?" Oh well, it didn't matter, the essential thing was leaving the house! My French partner, Y, decided this was a perfect opportunity for him to go running and so looking cool in his sporty running clothes, he started his Runtastic App and ran off. 

I meandered and took the long way so I could enjoy the sunshine. The streets were nearly empty. I saw exactly four people at a distance in our tourist town that would normally be filled

Passage Palmerole -
inside the citadel wall

with visitors. Eventually, I arrived at the Post Office only to discover it was closed.

I'd taken too long.  They are only open three hours in the morning, for the time being. Oh well, I'll try earlier tomorrow. Now there's a thought! Two outings in two days! I took so long wandering home that I met my partner as I came up the stairs of the passage that runs up through the old fortified wall of Argelès sur Mer.  We were just a few steps from our front door. He was surprised.  "Tu viens de rentrer?"  (Have you only now returned?) Wow! Somehow, I'd managed to spend an hour just going to the Post Office and coming back. Normally this takes four minutes - round trip. Hey, I did have an excellent reason.  I was summoned and besides, I needed the fresh air and the exercise. 

We had lunch - another famous quarantine, "What can we make with what we have in the

Quarantine Surprise! Quite nice.

fridge and pantry meal?" Y had his favorite - sausage Rougail with rice and I opened a vegetarian can of "Meatballs" cooked in a tomato sauce with peas and carrots. There were Chinese noodles left over from last night's dinner. I spiced it up with a bit of Moroccan sauce - and that hit the spot. Yum! or as my partner says, "Miam!" We did the dishes and had a coffee.  I settled in to work for a while while Y did the washing up. 

For a while, the house was quiet except for the tapping of my keyboard and my partner working at his computer. He looked up and asked, "Ca va, mon amour?" (Is everything fine, love?) I sighed and said, "Yes, but I want to write now, I'm tired of sitting here." This was a bit redundant as I was already writing.  Thanks to all this time at home, Chapter 7 of the kids on Mars 3 book (not the title!) is really coming along at a pace. But I needed a change. And he understood that what I really meant was I wanted to write in the fresh air, not sit inside at the kitchen table. And he knew I meant I wanted to write to you.

So he put up our SPF-50 beach parasol and moved the furniture into its shade to create cooler outdoor space for me. We are so lucky to have this outdoor space with the view of the mountains. How different today is compared to the cool, grey, rainy day we had yesterday! It's almost too warm on the terrace now as I sit here in the shade and write to you.  Yes, I am a very spoiled lady!

A movement catches my eye and I look up from the screen, I wanted to wave to the white-haired lady in a shawl across the

street.  She lives in the dark pink apartments, three buildings over.  We've spoken on a few occasions when I've been in the street and she looks down. Just now, she was looking up the street in the other direction from our terrace so didn't see me.  I can't help being a little amazed that she was wearing a shawl! I'm thinking about going barefoot today. It's almost too warm here on the sunny side and I wonder if it's really cooler on her side or if it's the combination of age and being confined.  We're all moving a lot less these days! I waited for her to turn and look this way, but she went back indoors without seeing us. Maybe I should have yelled, but French custom says not to intrude on the privacy of others if they do not look your  way in public. 

So back to philosophizing on the quarantine while Y watches the news on his tablet. It's a bit distracting because I can hear what's going on but that's okay.  He exclaims, "Enfants Gâtés."

It's a colorful street!

(Spoiled children!) I ask, "Qui?"(Who?) Hoping it has nothing to do with me - the most spoiled person I know! But fortunately for me, he says, "All these young people!" and shares the video he's watching. Sure enough, it's a video of a variety of teens who are complaining because they can't go shopping, can't hang out with their friends, can't go to festivals, and so on. I understood both them and my partner. Being with a teenager confined at this time has got to be hard even with the best tempered, most reasonable kids. I don't so much mean for them - I'm thinking of their parents! And if that girl Y just showed me gave me the same lip she was giving the reporter, and I was her mom... Well, let's just say her confinement would now be limited to her bedroom.

Kids in our rich society can't imagine how lucky they are. Our techno-blessed teens have so many cool ways of staying connected with each other. But they still are like we were. Remember how when we were teens, a day could seem like an eternity? (Like Friday... school seemed never-ending on Fridays!) I should be a little charitable and understand that they need to blow off the steam at being confined. In the long run, it will build character, but for the moment, they can only think that all of this was a plot to ruin their social lives. 

As I type this to you, I realized something. The phrases the teens had used all began with "I, I,

Le Sardane - on a gift from a dear friend.
The traditional dance of our Region.

I,"and focused on "me, me, me."  It strikes me that although it's a very teen thing, I'm just as guilty of being ego-centric as any of them. That probably will never change.  But I'm not going to complain about having to stay home.  I'm going to focus on how I can turn this time into an opportunity. We've all talked about the endless projects we are working on now. You know I have mine. Enough said. But you know what is just as valid and important? Staying connected, staying positive, and sending each other encouragement to be courageous and get through this time. One day, we will dance again.

Another four weeks.  That's what President Macron told the nation last night. He was epic. So calm, reasonable, and praising us for working together. His speech finished with, "Tiendrons." It literally means, "We will hold on." I like that. 

We will hold on - together.

This isn't easy.  We've all been feeling the restrictions this last month in confinement. Even I, who am not French, felt included in that statement.  We will hang on. Y, gave me a smile as I joined his president in saying, "Vive la République. Vive la France!" I'm sure he thinks it's amusing and he certainly didn't join in. But I know he's French to the core. Aucune doute (No doubt) about it. 

I'm a Yank, through and through. Two cultures in one house. We're doing fine together.  It's not détente - it's la Paix (Peace) between two people who have found that we have a strong relationship, even when confronted with this unexpected confinement. Y has brought me tea and gives me a gentle smile. "Oui, presque finis!" I tell him (Yes, I've almost finished the blog for today.) I'm so grateful I've landed in a safe place, loved and under the umbrella of health care here.  I worry about my friends in the UK and other places where the numbers of people newly infected are still climbing. I can only wait and watch my own country brace against the wave that's predicted to hit its peak this coming weekend. Hang on. They say the darkest moment of a stormy night comes just before the dawn. We hope that you're in a safe place until the sun shines again.

Knowing you are doing this with us, makes it easier to be brave and take the stand. We'll stay home

The wave is striking hard right now, but hold on!

for another month. Whatever it takes. We know why we're doing it. We're doing it for everyone.  Even the spoiled children because sometimes we are just like them. Hold on. We are with you even though we are far in distance and time. There will be a tomorrow if we can just stay safe until the vaccine or immunity is found. And we will get there together!

À demain, nos amis!  (Until tomorrow, our friends)  Link to Day 30