Heureusement...

« Heureusement que vous étiez là » - Fortunately you were there. This is what you could read on the Eiffel Tower last night. A tribute was given by the City of Paris to everybody who has participated in making the confinement period successful. This Sunday was the last day before a period of relative relief begins. Let’s see what will happen… we must remain very careful! This means also that we were asked not to go there and look. I took the liberty of doing so, anyhow, only five minutes walk. 

The idea was of course to say “thanks”. We have all been applauding every evening at 8. I think that we have all realized that the thanks go not only to doctors, nurses and hospital personnel in general, but also to delivery men and women, to garbage collectors, to security forces, to cashiers, to postmen and women, to retirement home personnel, to teachers…  We may hope that what has happened the last couple of weeks will lead to increased respect for many work categories. 

   

Confinement

I have been quite lazy when it comes to posting lately… I have had of course a real excuse for a couple of weeks. I have been very careful about following the confinement rules, have hardly left my flat (my little garden has been of great help…). Even the River seems to follow the confinement rules, totally at rest!

Yesterday evening I decided to make a little walk, within the rules - not more than 1 km, not exceeding an hour…This is what this part of Paris looks like at the moment. Hardly anybody around…

… even around the Tower and Chaillot.

I like this view of the Flame with Sacré Cœur in the far background, but looking slightly to the right… I don’t too much like to see all these boats lying idle!

Here is a graph (published by Financial Times daily). Some of the curves are going down, including the French one. If nothing special happens, we will be slightly freer again May 11, but… all of us have to behave very well - and also the virus has to behave very well - if we in a reasonable future may expect to be back to a more “normal life”… e.g. to sit down at a bar terrace with a nice glass of red wine, going to a concert, to the cinema... and hoping to see the 50 million annual Paris visitors back!