Windy and White – Du vent et du blanc

We had a windy, rainy weekend but it cleared up long enough for a neighbourhood walk. The temperatures will rise slowly this week and, with a bit of luck, we might soon be vaccinated. Le week-end a été venteux et pluvieux mais on a réussi quand même à faire une promenade d’une heure dans notre …

A Spray of Pink – Une gerbe de rose

This bush seems to get more splendid every spring. As we go into our third lockdown – this time for 4 weeks – we thank our lucky stars that we have a beautiful garden to keep us busy and entertained. This time our excursions are limited to a radius of 10 km which means we …

A Curious Queue – Une queue curieuse

When we went to the market yesterday I was surprised to see this queue of about 50 people. The second photo shows what it was for. I guess the figures will show the results tomorrow or Tuesday. Lorsqu’on est allé au marché hier j’étais surprise de voir cette queue d’une cinquantaine de personnes. La deuxième …

High Waters – Hautes Eaux

It’s miraculously stopped raining. Today was warm (13 degrees) and sunny. I’ve now pruned the roses (all 14, but not the ramblers) and the hydrangeas. I feel like I’m coming alive despite the steady 20,000 to 25,000 new cases and 300 to 400 deaths a day due to Covid. Par miracle la pluie s’est arrêtée. …

Left to Ruin – Laissée à l’abandon

I always think it’s a pity to see houses left to ruin while new unimaginative houses are springing up everywhere. I thought we would go back into lockdown in February but instead the status quo has been maintained while closing all non- European borders as well as non-essential shopping centers over 20,000 square meters. The …

Cat & Moss – Chat sur mousse

Every time I turned the radio on today they were talking about Covid vaccinations for the over 70s which began today. With everyone complaining about the slow rollout, the process was bumped up. Now they are running out of Pfizer vaccines. Chaque fois que j’ai écouté la radio aujourd’hui on parlait des vaccinations contre le …

Bears at the Market – Des ours au marché

We have a new curfew across the country from 6 pm to 6 am. With 21271 new cases today and 76 in our immediate area (Loir-et-Cher), we need to be very careful. We found little respect of social distancing at the market today but everyone was wearing a mask, although not always on their nose, …

The Other Sides of Chambord – Les autres faces de Chambord

We’ve been having absolutely ghastly weather and I haven’t been outside since Sunday. Covid lockdown has been replaced with weather lockdown. However today it wasn’t raining even though it was only 2 degrees so we went back to Chambord, collecting a lost glove on the way from a pharmacy I called into last Saturday. Some …

From Inside Out – Vue sur l’extérieur

The weather remains disappointingly cold and rainy but this afternoon we had an unexpected window of blue sky so went for one of our Covid walks. I took this from inside my office when we got back. The health minister announced tonight that curfew will be brought forward to 6 pm in the most affected …