Out of the frying pan..
Welcome again to the sunny south of France. It is Sunday, the 13th. As Pogo Possum noted years ago, it is always bad news when Friday the 13th falls on a Sunday (or Wednesday, etc.). The jet lag has finally dwindled enough for me to try to untangle the cobwebs and fill you in on intercontinental air travel in these unpasteurized times.
Our airport driver showed up at 3:00 PM on Wednesday, with a massive Toyota Highlander. There was barely enough room for our bags since the beast was chockfull of paper cup cartons. Turns out he is responsible for keeping the drivers caffeinated while they wait for fares at Pearson, which can be long waits these days. Apparently two clients a day is pretty normal now. The parking lot which usually has hundreds of waiting cars was more than half vacant. Lots of guys playing cards.
Airport departure drop-off areas were always difficult to negotiate. Not now. Only passengers are allowed in the terminals,and they are screened when entering the building. Temperatures are taken rigourously. Departure lounges are functioning – barely.
$11 for an ice tea and bag of cashews. Passengers were all masked, and NO cloth masks are allowed. Surgical only. We bought 100 on Amazon a week ago and they are surprisingly comfortable. Much easier to breathe with than the cloth masks. No fashion statement, but what do you want for $0.80 each? Sexy or security. OK, both…
The flight to Paris was pretty uneventful and comfortable, seeing as the plane was less than half full. For those who enjoy tracking the flight’s progress with the map, these things are downright fascinating. Almost like Google Earth, We could zoom in and see our little town on the map.
The Paris Airport, Charles de Gaulle, is normally a zoo. Arrival areas were eerily almost vacant. We later found that the airport is funneling all departures to a limited number of terminals. When we finally made it to our gate, social distancing was just not possible, but people were still good about masks. There is no option; you could face a substantial fine.
The flight to Marseille was on time and full, given that all seats had to be spaced. We were in the second row and both nodded off sitting up.
Marseille Airport was not busy, and picking up the car was a snap. They are begging for business. We were given a nice Nissan, but it had some engine warning light on when we left the parking, so we backtracked and traded it in for a Dacia Duster. a compact SUV. Not as nice as the Nissan but quite comfy.
Driving to Tresques was fine and easy; not even a pee break which is most unusual for us. We made a quick stop for a snack at a rest and gas area, but the lineups weren’t worth a pretzel and Coke.
On Wednesday evening. We received a note from Geoff and Nicola, our neighbours from London, that they were heading back to the UK bright and early Thursday, so we never got to connect.. They’ll be back in November so maybe we’ll see them in 2021. Then Serge sent a note from Metz, in northestern France, advising that the government would be making some tough calls regarding lockdowns and protocols. The number of new cases in France had spiked more than it did even during the surge six months ago. The 25-35 demograhic. Paris, Marseille, and Lyon are the hotspots. We remain relatively uncontaminated little country bumpkins, which suits us fine.
However, everybody is masked when out in public, The signing at our local supermarket, Intermarche, is much more inspirational than our institutional notices in Torono. Much like the Three Musketeers, « All for One and One for All!! »
A small gesture for each person, but a great gesture for everyone. Come masked!
Tresquenadiens 