Dear Friends,
We are finally settled in Villefranche. It seemed to take a long time this trip – probably due to a combination of the Trip and our ever-increasing ages. Also, the weather the first week was not up to par although at 50 degrees F and cloudy much of the time is still much better than -20 degrees F and snow as in Minneapolis.
In one of the true miracles of all time and thanks in large part to “le decalage horaire” (jet lag), we actually made it to midnight on New Year’s Eve. We were rewarded with a beautiful scene over the water and fireworks. Jane was able to capture the event perfectly on her iphone.
Just after the new year, we really began to feel at home when we had an impromptu lunch with friends. Around noon we got a text from a friend who was about to have lunch and did we want to join her. As we had not seen her in person in two years, we said yes, dropped everything and headed for the restaurant. As we were ordering lunch, another friend who was out for a power walk saw us and joined us.
In viewing the above picture, please keep in mind that this was one of the not so good weather days and we are sitting outside with just light jackets and/or sweaters on. Also an interesting fact about the group in the photo. Everybody was born in Minnesota, three of the four still have their primary residence in Minnesota and except for Jane and me who did meet in Minnesota, we all met each other in Villefranche.
The French are very clear about their priorities with respect to COVID. Those priorities are reflected in their regulations. Everyone must wear a mask indoors in public (in Paris even outdoors). So, everybody can go shopping and ride the bus so long as they wear a mask. But to go to a restaurant, bar, concert, museum etc. you must show proof of three vaccination shots or a very recent negative test. The nightclubs and certain other really unnecessary venues are completely closed. The proof is done through a pass sanitaire. It is basically a QR code that the proprietor can scan to see if you are permitted to enter.
We got our pass sanitaire before we arrived here for our October trip. At the time we applied, we just had two vaccination shots and that was all that were required. Now three shots are required so we had to get a new pass sanitaire that showed that we have had all three.
We took a photo of the formal document, saved it on our phones as a favorite and show it when requested so they can scan the QR code. It works really well and takes virtually no time.
All bars, restaurants, cinemas, etc. are required to check the pass sanitaire of each customer or they can receive a substantial fine. These rules are in place to slow community spread so that, among other things, the schools can stay open. So far, this approach has worked very well in achieving that goal.
In Villefranche most people are quite compliant. We very seldom see anybody in a shop or on the bus without a mask on and virtually all the time the mask is covering the nose and mouth. I cannot say the same for the shopkeepers. For the most part in Villefranche with its small shops, the clerks are more often behind shields than wearing masks. All our favorite shopkeepers fall into this category. About half the restaurants check the pass sanitaire. This compliance is slightly better than it was in October when the community spread (pre-omicron) was much lower.
In the schools, the children wear masks except when eating, and they eat in very small pods. We had an experience the other day when our French tutor, the mother of two elementary school children was late for a lesson. The night before at 9 pm, she received an email from the school that her 4th grader’s class had an exposure, and all the students would have to be tested before they could return to class. So, she and her son showed up at the pharmacy when it opened at 9 am so that they both could be tested. There were many families there as there are only a couple of pharmacies in the small town and all the fourth graders in that class needed to be tested. As it turned out both our teacher and her son tested negative. Her daughter and partner also were tested over the weekend. The son had to test again two days later, but again he was negative. The tests are free, and the results are within an hour. With this strict protocol, so far they have been able to keep the kids in school most all the time and the parents can continue to work with just a small amount of disruption.
You may have heard of a recent scandal in which President Macron used a word which is normally not heard in public from the mouth of the President of France. There has been discussion in various EU countries about vaccination mandates. Macron is opposed to such a mandate. His preferred approach is to restrict the unvaccinated so much that they get vaccinated. His approach has worked very well. You can imagine in the US if you needed proof of three vaccination shots to go to a bar, a football game, a movie, etc. Either we would have a rebellion or a much higher rate of vaccinations.
Anyway, when Macron said in public that his goal was to piss people off enough that they would get vaccinated, he used the word “emmerder” which our dictionary defines as “to bug or annoy” but also with a more familiar use of “screw you”. In normal French parlance, however, the word is more vulgar and would include some version of the f word. Macron is not backing down from his use of this word and as a non-politician, I think it is perfect even in its vulgar form.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
