les Davey de France

Anyway it's not my fault. I don't have a vote. Well M. Juppé was in Bordeaux yesterday evening to see how things went for the elections to the municipal council and therefore for the post of mayor. I wasn't sure M. Juppé had handled things as well as he could - he was asked in an interview whether there were any possible successors to him in his team, and he said none that he could see. Some short months later he had the call-up to the consitutional council and Nicolas Florian from his team became his successor. One of the first things M. Florian did was to put his photo on lots of billboards in the city, so we would know what he looked like. France does accord glory to its more illustrious citizens, but it has issues with citizens assuming glory, so these posters were not terribly popular. But things went basically OK. Then came coronavirus, bringing a deliciously quiet city. Once shops reopened the town hall arranged free parking at Quinconces to encourage tra...

It's been a rather hectic week, but hey, we got through it! One evening I managed to get myself triple-booked, with family quiz, first-time-back choir rehearsal and speaking for a UK CU. That kind of week. So yesterday I suggested that we take a moment to go out for lunch somewhere. We live in a city of cafés and restaurants, some of which are quite affordable. Why not? Our next zoom call was scheduled for 2pm, so we needed to keep it close to home. There's a really good organic and local produce pizza place near the station - really good pizzas. There's several places we've never been. Oh yes, and there's that new chicken place - Chicko-so - that just opened. We decided to go and see. It's a fast-food style place with a couple of tables outside and lots inside. The idea is that you choose your meal from a kind of table of options :  Chicken       Accompaniment  Sauce  Dessert       Drink  Roast chicken  Caesar salad ...

We downloaded and activited our StopCovid apps on our phones a while ago. I forget what date it became available but as good citizens we got it straight away. So far 14 people in France have been alerted that they have been in close contact for 15 minutes or more with someone who has tested positive to covid-19. I am hoping that means the app works well and the virus is rare. Meanwhile Bordeaux has been doing free screening for people who are especially vulnerable. Today is the last day they'll be doing this, and we understood that we could be screened too if we went to Place Meunier. However this would entail queuing up in 31°C under a cloudless sky to have an extra long cotton bud stuffed up your nose, so we reluctantly decided to forego it. Anyway in all the screening nobody at all has tested positive. Regarding the churches we are feeling a little frustrated, but also ... resigned? Cinemas and concert halls can now open. People must be masked while taking their seats. Peo...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TosA7Pm_P6k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slsc0JJvEkI

Despite further deconfinement churches still must allow 4m2 per person, wear masks all through the meeting, avoid eating, drinking or "attroupements" and disinfect all surfaces liable to be touched... Since attroupements are an important part of what we do, and the thought of singing and preaching in a mask is unattractive (that is not an invtation for unkind jokes!) we will carry on meeting online. We are building a community, not an audience , and starting a church, not a ministry , so zoom suits us best. However we understand that the government are expected to revise the directives for churches etc with new guidelines appearing on the 22nd of June, so we're waiting with bated breath. At the same time, we're now entering the sunlight zone of July and August, when the holiday spirit siezes the entire nation and we practice a kind of compulsive transhumance, the July people flooding down from gloomy Parisian regions to the radiant south during the first week...

Tram C leaves from about 400 yards from our home and arrives about 500 yards from Ikea, so for small errands we can quite adequately go by tram. We needed 6 new dinner plates after the incident that shall not be mentioned, when half our everyday dinner plates went in all directions instead of into the dresser. Our current plates were a natty rich brown and a beige colour. Ikea continue to do the same plates, but not in the same colours. So off I set with my rucksack for the plates and the inevitable batteries and wires that I would purchase, and a large Ikea blue bag for cushions and any other treasures I would purloin. I checked the time when setting off and when arriving. About 45 minutes. You wouldn't do it much faster in a car. The biggest irritation is the need to wear your mask in the tram. Masks keep you very warm. Very warm indeed. I found a trolley and set off into the interior. "You can't take a trolley upstairs." said the helpful security man on the d...

It is possible to travel in France now so we took the opportunity to rent an AirBnb and get some train tickets to Biarritz. My doctor said I can do whatever I like as long as I stay in Aquitaine. Biarritz is in Aquitaine. There we are. We travelled at lunchtime on Monday and came back yesterday. We enjoyed mainly good weather - we had one day of persistent rain when we stayed inside, read and watched films. Otherwise it was the usual Davey holiday of forced marches round the town. We found a splendid eating place in Bayonne - a mexican restaurant where we were served excellent food by the charming your proprietor. Biarritz is a classy seaside place and though we found affordable places to eat nothing stood out to us as special. Our AirBnB was a small basement flat in a secure mansion of apartments where the neighbours drove Porsches and Bentleys. It was great. It had everything we needed, including a comfortable bed and a sofa. It was good to get away, but now we have a busy week...