And things are moving right along with the new trend covid19 and the fears eminating from governments without telling you the real story. I have contracts but will tell you briefly as some information is already surfacing. Oh yes the weather is cloudy, cool in my neck of the woods and looming colder now at 12C or about 54F. In our eternal Paris;;;; it is 16C or about 61F.
On this past Wednesday October 14,2020; the government of France had taken a new step by imposing a curfew in Île-de-France region and in eight metropolitan cities . The measure, implemented since this past Saturday, then concerned the Paris Ïle de France region but also Grenoble, Lyon, Aix-Marseille, Montpellier, Lille, Saint-Etienne, Rouen and Toulouse. From Ile-de-France and eight cities since last Saturday, we go to 54 departments this Saturday. The other departments that are on this constraints are the
Seine-Maritime, Hérault, Haute-Garonne, Bouches-du-Rhône, Nord, Rhône, Loire, and Isère. In particular, there are Ain, Alpes-Maritimes, Ardèche, Ardennes Ariège, Aube, Aveyron, Bas-Rhin Calvados, the Sud Corsica, the Côte d ‘Or., Drôme, Gard, Haute-Corse, Haute-Loire, Haute-Savoie, Haute-Vienne, Hautes-Alpes, Hautes-Pyrénées, Ille-et-Vilaine, Indre- et-Loire, Jura, Loiret, Lozère, Maine-et-Loire, Marne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Oise, Pas-de-Calais, Puy-de-Dôme, Pyrenees -Atlantiques, Pyrénées-Orientales, Saône-et-Loire, Savoie, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Var, Vaucluse. Added to this list is an overseas territory, Polynesia.
The rules are the same, all should be close between 21h and 6h for 4 weeks, maybe 6: Only certain reasons are exempt like coming home from work, arriving from a long trip, taking your dog out can be waived, provided that you have a correctly completed derogatory certificate. The “rule of six”, sucha as not to meet with more than six persons for private events (dinner with friends, birthday party, etc.). The news is that across France, the occupancy rate of Covid patients in intensive care is 44%. Nevertheless, 50% of intensive care patients are under 50 yrs old. Regarding screening, there is a rise from 1.1 million tests to 1.6 million tests per week in 15 days,these according to the current government figures.
You know it all started in Wuhan China? yes it seems many has already forgotten this small detail… The first news was that it came from an animal etc, and we /I saw the Chinese army forcing people into their homes there as well as initial doctors who spoked were taken off the radar never to be heard again. Well there is a biological warfare laboratory there P4 maximum security, it is said to be done with French technical help in 2015. There was a leak and the rest is the Wuhan virus oh no it was called coronavirus and then to be more politically correct its the covid19 now. Well one virologist from Qingdao (see my post ) did escape thru Hong Kong and now in the USA. Her name is Li-Meng Yan. More info: https://www.foxnews.com/world/chinese-virologist-coronavirus-cover-up-flee-hong-kong-whistleblower
I know this is not travel news but the situation is so critical now we need to speak up the truth. Hope it helps you understand.
In more travel related and back to my blog there are some news in France to tell you all.
Where can you find exceptional chocolates, high quality smoked salmon, rare spices, spirits or artisanal aperitif biscuits? Very often, they are sold exclusively in the 4000 or so delicatessens in France (yes indeed!!). To promote these passionate merchants and producers, the professional magazine “Le Monde de l’Épicerie fine” has created the “Epicures”, the equivalent of the César, an event which is in its 7th edition. The winners and picking just some at random are for the grocers, Mademoiselle Amande, in Vincennes (Val-de-Marne 94) was awarded the Epicure of the Year 2020. Another award-winning brand, born from a joke between friends: the “French Federation of the aperitif ». With its points of sale in Paris and Lille and its online store. This federation for laughs offers wines, beers, cold meats, spreads and other chips made in France, everything for a successful aperitif. In terms of artisans, among those who won gold, we can cite Lissip, a Parisian producer of fruit syrups without additives, distinguished for its syrup with ginger, apple and hibiscus; the Saint-Christophe cannery, in the Bay of Somme, for its delicious mackerel rillettes with bitter beer; Café Pfaff, a Parisian roaster, for its “house blend”; or the Biscuiterie du Fort Bloque, Ploemeur , Morbihan, for its buckwheat and spirulina shortbread.
The residents of the avenue de Breteuil go to war against the Wall for Peace memorial. Deconstructed from the Champ-de-Mars to make way for the ephemeral Grand Palais, the controversial monument must be located on avenue de Breteuil 15éme arrondissement. On the spot, petitions, appeals and criticisms fuse to stop this move. Paris of today!
When the city/town hall calls on Parisians to give their idea on the transformation of parking spaces, the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants to make the voice of the business world heard. The President of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), launches an appeal to economic players. He invites on Twitter business leaders, traders, artisans and all those who bring Paris to life “to make concrete proposals on professional mobility in a changing world”. It should not be that only Parisians who do not have a car and represent 50% of the population answer the questionnaire launched by the city/town hall of Paris. Economic actors who need to travel by car must also provide their opinion on the issue. Bien sùr Paris!
Unveiled with great fanfare last week, the new metro line 14 train has not carried passengers since. This new metro only carried passengers once, the time of an inaugural return trip between Olympiades and Saint-Lazare. Since then, its commissioning has been delayed. Oh yes public transport like this and roads are closed !!
And not enough the train users between Oise (dept 60) and Paris are “on edge”. TER train users deplore a continuous deterioration of the service, in particular on the “Picard Y” line where the regularity of trains is deteriorating. Trains late, canceled … The daily life of train users between Oise and Paris can be painful. It’s been like this for a long time but nothing is done, for public transports!!
In Paris ,the museums, online booking is gaining ground. The success of the exhibitions devoted to Danish painting at the Petit Palais (8éme) and Coco Chanel at the Galliera Palace (16éme) is such that these two institutions – whose capacity is limited to 200 people – now require online reservations. Currently, the Petit Palais and Galliera are exceptions to the rule in force at Paris-musées (an entity bringing together the 14 museums of the City of Paris: museum of modern art, Balzac house, etc.). In order not to exclude people who do not have Internet access, they do not impose online booking but recommend it. Visitors who do not reserve in advance should expect to queue, possibly not being able to enter if the gauge is full. Of course, you are better off buying ahead to all these places of tourist interest in France.
A giant solar power plant will be built in the visitor parking lot of Disneyland Paris. It will be one of the largest sites in Europe using solar panels, on 17 hectares above the parking spaces. When complete in 2023, part of the installation will even feature a Mickey Mouse head visible from the sky. By 2023, the project will have 17 hectares of photovoltaic shade houses and 67,500 solar panels. That will look good to the local politicians lol!
The museums no longer let their funds sleep in their basements, they are devoting more and more exhibitions to these previously invisible works. This is good because I can tell plenty is there! The Pont-Aven Museum has during the lockdown, Internet users were able to draw around thirty works online out of the 2,000 stored. This joyfully participatory operation gave rise to the exhibition “Reserve, open up!” , Which opens on October 17. until January 3, 2021. Indeed a very nice museum see post in my blog.
And this is it for now folks a short one and a hot one. Hope you enjoy your travels whenever and wherever you can. Keep Safe !
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 