Lockdown No.3

Well, twelve months on and we are back into lockdown - for the third time. Every time it's a little different and even if President Macron refuses to use the term "confinement" we all know how this will go down. No restaurants, bars, theatres, cinemas, discos, stadiums, galleries or any other social gatherings allowed for another 4 weeks.

The attestation is now TWO pages long and has so many option you do not know which one to tick without getting into trouble. Fortunately, even the government realized this and less than 24 hours later word has spread that we do not need an "attestation de deplacement" as long as we remain within a 10km radius of our home. Merci M. Castex.

Given you are allowed out the house for exercising, all of a sudden Parisian have become sporty. A year ago the population took to the bikes as our green city mayor took full advantage of the trend extending Paris' bike paths to over one thousand km... literally!

Today the river banks were overflowing with joggers, bikers, boxers, zumba dancers, yogis, weightlifters and capoeira athletes working out in the sun.

We will all be fit and ready to hit those restaurants when they finally open... in the meantime, my Swiss chocolate stock is diminishing rapidly as my exercise level intensifies.

A view down the Seine onto Le Grand Palais

All that is left of the tourists... lovelocks!

Working out in front of Musée d'Orsay

Picture perfect

Time for lunch on the go

Enjoying the last rays of sun...

before the clouds take over! 

Turning off the noise?

Listening to the news non-stop... it seems to be my new normal... CNN, BBC, BFMTV, FranceInfo, even Al Jazeera to allow for a different perspective. 

Will France go into lockdown or will we not? Will the vaccines make it to Europe or will they be hogged by the UK? Which executive orders will President Biden sign today? My latest discovery NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) US podcasts. It's an eclectic list of sources - conservative as they all may be - which has kept me company over the past weeks and months of lockdown. 

Obviously glued to CNN during the Presidential elections and the storming of the Capitol Hill which reminded me more of France's gilets jaunes protesters than US rioters... and left me wondering WHY was there absolutely no riot police in sight?!?

Maybe it is time to turn off the TV for a while and listen to some music... oh but then there is Netflix and Amazon Prime.. and what about BEIN Sport? 

So, here is the question: do I dare act on my mother's advice and turn it ALL off.. even if only for a day?!?

Lockdown No.2

Passy is my hood. It is one of Paris' many endlessly entertaining neighborhoods with real people that make cozy communities in the midst of this vast, high-powered city. People know their merchants as if it were a village. You find a frenetic and human vibrancy that tourists often don't get to discover.  

Bustling with delivery trucks in the morning, people queuing in front of bakeries at lunchtime to buy their "Menu sandwich", kids running across the pathments with their scooters at 4:30pm and young office workers enjoying Happy Hour on the bistro terrace after work. I usually have to dodge Parisians walking their dogs and pushing baby strollers in Passy's vibrant market street.

It has all gone eerily quiet these past two weeks and although children are still allowed to attend school streets are empty, restaurants and shops are closed, traffic is down to a minimum and the mood is somber and rather resigned. 

During the the first lockdown it seemed the Parisians were still defiant putting up their usual feisty side, this time around we are continuing our daily routine as best we can working around restrictions and just waiting to get through this year 2020.

... and then we went into lockdown... again!

Friday afternoon and we are heading back to Paris early after a short half-term break. We cannot ignore the heavy feeling in our stomach. 

As of today France is on highest terrorist alert and on total lockdown. The only difference is that schools remain open as do the parks. However, if you live further away than 1km of a green space you won’t be able to reach it since the max radius to walk, run or grocery shop for necessities is 1000m.

We are heading into at least four more likely six weeks of staying home 24/7 except for the kids who - until further notice - are allowed to attend classes. 

Education is probably the main reason many parents are heading back to the Hexagon's capital this weekend given that most of us have been recommended to “télétravail” whenever possible. Nevertheless, over the past two days Paris has registered over 1000km of traffic jam heading OUT of the city!!!

Expat daughter who will be turning 18 soon is not happy because according to her these are suppose to be the best years of her life. Now that she is finally old enough to go out at night and meet up with her friends for a drink, she can’t even ride her bike to enjoy a bubble tea in the Marais with her besties!!!

Whatever the situation, it too will pass and as long as we stay healthy and safe we will come out the other end eventually... in the meantime I am stocking up on bottles of Prosecco and continuing my yoga classes online to keep sane. 

Closed until further notice

As of last Tuesday all of the capital's bars have been closed as Paris upgrades the alert level to the maximum due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. Restaurants and bistros will be allowed to stay open if they put new sanitary measures in place, which include registering the contact details of customers and closing at 10 pm. 

Some of us still venture out to have lunch with our closest girlfriends or dinner with couples whom we are close to, sitting on the terrasse tucked up in woolen sweaters and winter coats as to avoid eating inside. However, the insouciance of enjoying un flûte de champagne during Happy hour has definitely disappeared and the sad thing is we don't know for how long.

Pretty in Pink

My friends know my signature colour is pink. My readers know my favourite Parisian monument is the Eiffel Tower. Every year on October 1st the two come together for the launching of Pink October to support breast cancer awareness month. 

The association Le Cancer du Sein, Parlons-En!, now nicknamed "Ruban Rose" (Pink Ribbon), is launching the 27th edition of Pink October in France, an informative operation to raise awareness and support the research against the disease lasting all month long. 

An evening stroll under a near full moon just made it all the more magical.

Kukuwa, my latest discovery

So, you've heard of zumba lessons and maybe even barre classes but what about Kukuwa?

Covid-19 had forced us to exercise indoors and I can't help but think back to the days when Jane Fonda instructed us how to grapevine on her VHS video tapes. Home fitness has been shaping our lives for longer than we think only now it has taken on a much more conscientious part of our daily routine. 

Clothing brands, apps, and trainers were all offering workouts for free on various digital platforms. Given the amount of chocolate being consumed in our household during confinement, I had decided to launch myself into the exercise offer online trying everything from Vinyasa yoga to Zumba and from mindfulness meditation to African dance. 

At the top of the list and by far the most fun discovery of my quarantine is Kukuwa! A dance workout blending African soukous, makossa, and soca rhythms into a low impact, high energy cardiovascular, fun-filled energetic class that challenges my fitness ability and my coordination. It feels like I'm on an exotic expedition through Cameroon, Zambia, Namibia, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Malawi all the while moving my boomsey!

The workout is great fun. The moves are sexy, fast and really get those muscles in shape and that heart rate up! The music is upbeat and the instructors a good giggle. 

Kukuwa is definitely the best discovery during my confinement. What 's yours?

What did lockdown look like?

Paris has finally come to an end of 56 days of confinement and the general questions is: what did you do during lockdown?

Well, for most it began with incredulity, a stage where we could not believe the government was asking us not to leave our apartments and we had no choice but to adhere to the rules.

Things fell into place pretty fast after that; starting with the attestation de déplacement dérogatoire the French had a little escape route with the excuse to go wine shopping... we were off to a positive start!

Accompanied by Bob Sinclair's daily lockdown groove sessions on facebook, I followed mini-workshops on photography, branding and instagram editing. I finally got around to putting my Paris blog into print for keepsakes and ended up with eight volumes. I compiled a long overdue photo book and rebooted my recipe blog.

Of course, a bit of shopping online help boost the moral but mostly I was hogging the computer at the turn of midnight to grab a slot for our groceries to be delivered 10 days later!

Marks and Spencers Food hall became my new favourite place and the lady at the Lindt chocolate shop my new best friend! My Swiss wine and chocolate stocks have drastically dwindled...

I prepared my tax declaration documentation, caught up with my medical bills and took hours to claim reimbursements for flights. Trips to Madrid, Lugano, Ibiza, Naples and Croatia all went down the drain.

We had yet another water leak above our flat (are we at number 5 or 6?!?) and I am rather proud I managed a floor refurbishment in our Swiss flat via Whatsapp. It looks great on photo and I can't wait to see the real thing. Keeping my fingers crossed and trusting in Swiss efficiency.

We met many of our neighbours while cheering on the health workers every evening across our balconies and collectively sang "Happy Birthday" to a little toddler who will forever have a place in my memory for making the most noise every evening with his pan & wooden ladle and his gusto for being allowed to do so.

And then there was the exercise... determined not to let my gourmandise get the better of me, I have been working out nearly every day making the most of what the internet has to offer. French Bikram yoga classes, Californian barre, Spanish zumba and bi-lingual core sessions have all found their way into my weekly routine as has a cathartic run through the streets of Paris at the end of the day!

This period, however, will be remembered as the zooming and tic-tocing months. We were not going to go down without a fight, so if we were not allowed out we were inviting the world into our living room. Many a virtual aperò - with enthusitstic dress-ups at the beginning - was enjoyed with friends and lots of giggles accompanied the tic toc family filming trials.

Oh, and how could I forget the suntanning sessions in front of the window on our living room floor?!? Club Med is nothing compared to our family programme...

Bad habits die hard

It's like lowering yourself into a hot bath... you know you have been looking forward to this but the water is so hot it makes you slow down.... that is what "déconfinement" feels like! As France slowly lifts the lid on gradual virus deconfinement plan, French people have been told by the Prime Minister that they are going to have to live with the virus.

Monday morning was a timid start with streets still quiet and little traffic. By lunchtime, however, some chanting, shouting and honking had caught my attention. I leaned over the balcony to realize we had a mini-demonstration panning out in front of an embassy on the opposite side of the road. Over one hundred people, six police vans and three fire engines were parked below our building. Seriously?!?

By Monday night Paris' mayor had prohibited the consumption of alcohol along the Seine embankment since thousands of youngsters had gathered along the river banks to celebrate their new-found freedom.

By Wednesday the main traffic arteries into town were blocked again and I got told off rudely by a bike rider for walking in the road along the sidewalk rather than on in... a habit I adopted during my grocery shopping sprees these past two months to avoid getting to close to other pedestrians.

This is what I call a brutal kick-start back into reality. Oh, did I mention... now that we are finally allowed out we are back to grey Parisian skies and one-digit degrees?!?

Furthermore, we are only allowed to travel within a 100km radius of our homes which doesn't even get me to Reims to sip some French champagne!!!

Day one post-lockdown

What will the new normal look like?

Where has all the sunshine gone?

Back to the hustle and bustle of city life...

or just your regular Monday morning!

Closed and abandoned

With the French capital in lockdown for nearly seven weeks due to the coronavirus, it feels like you could have the most visited sites in the world all to yourself... if only you were allowed out!

What a wonderful opportunity it would be to admire the city without noise and tourists. At the same time, however, it would no doubt be a sad sight, as if the city of lights were abandoned. 

The most spectacular images come from Human Rights Square at Trocadero looking out at the Eiffel Tower, a spot that is close to home and therefore accessible to me after 7pm, but many other places must look like the photos below which I have taken over the years...

One more week and we'll be allowed to venture out again and explore the beauty of this city without the crowds and tourbuses blocking the views. With a bit of patience and good behaviour the cafés and bistros might open up for the summer?!?

The photo above is the only one taken this past month.

Just look at the weather!

Time to stay home...

Well, Spain has declared a nation-wide lock down, Switzerland has finally taken a decision to curb the virus spreading albeit with slight differences according to each canton and France's Prime Minister has decided the French were not taking the government's warning serious enough and has closed virtually all public places except for supermarkets and pharmacies as of today.

It is true, daily routine had not changed in Paris until yesterday. Schools were open, locals were running errands in the streets and the bistrots were full at lunch time and over-flowing at night. Who wants to watch a football match by themselves at home when you can pop downstairs and watch it in your local hangout with all your buddies?

After more than a year putting up with Saturdays' mayhem caused by "gilets jaunes" and nearly two months of general strike leaving the population with no public transport and reduced public services, the French have added a certain resilience to their already quite feisty outlook. So, the build up to this moment has been like training-on-the-job to face the next crisis... this time in form of a virus!

Sunday morning, the first day of self-confinement, however, it is eerily quiet on the streets, but it is still early morning hours, so let's see what the day brings.

I am wondering, how long will it take until the French start singing "La Marseillaise" from their balconies?!?

France on partial lock-down

Falling in love with Paris again...

Sunday morning, 7am and I am wide awake... and... I had decided it was time I fell back in love with Paris. I can tell by the number of photos I have taken lately. I dare say I have a fair amount more of Ibiza than I do of Paris year to date!

After breakfast I took hubby by the hand and started strolling down to the Seine determined to make the most of what would no doubt be one of this year's last glorious sunny Sundays. With camera in hand we reached the river banks which to our surprise were closed to traffic due to Paris' 20km run gathering 30,000 runners from 100 countries in the streets of the French capital.

This was just the ticket, no were else does true French solidarity shine through more than in the form of associations. Faithful to its historical convictions, each year, the race's voluntary organization committee supports charitable associations in health and welfare... and the runners as well as the spectators were all in!

The onlookers had turned out in huge numbers - all enjoying a taste of the Indian summer - they were cheering, chanting, singing, dancing, clapping even howling at the participants. Home-made banners, printed posters, colourful flags, megaphones and bands lined the 20km course. Young and old, able bodied and disabled, men and women, all facing the challenge for a good cause. Now if that doesn't warm you heart... I am convinced Parisians are a different race on a sunny Sunday!

Hubby and I walked our usual route up and down the riverbank, following the racecourse for some miles, enjoying the blue skies and the sunny weather, but what warmed our hearts most on this day was feeling the city's solidarity and all the people that had turned up the show their caring side.

It was a good day to fall in love with Paris again!

A glorious Parisian Sunday

A constant flow of human all running for a cause

The last kilometres...

Some pink cheering on the sidelines

When your associations' buddies run past everyone cheers!

Take a seat this is gonna take a while... and don't forget to cheer!