Back after a hiatus when I took a break from all things corona-related (I was never really a fan of that Mexican beer either).
And, I can see France has been in the UK press on-off and, as usual, the reporting tends to be a bit "glancing", despite the fact that some of these (especially the Guardian) have correspondents here who should know better.
What is happening in France?
Answer: nothing much.
Has anything changed in France over the last few months/weeks?
Answer: nothing much.
Is there a new "lockdown" in France?
Answer: err ... depends what you mean by "lockdown".
The French press are calling it "lockdown lite". So, what does that mean?
Headlines are betrayed by details that often go unreported.
All "non-essential" shops close. But, at the same time (and unreported in most UK media as far as I can see) the classification of "essential" has been rewritten so that virtually all shops are open 😀
Florists, bookshops, music (anything to with), estate agents, repairs, opticians, anything IT (even games), hair salons ... the list is endless. In fact it is easier to point out what has to close: fashion. That is the only thing I can think of. Outside the main fashion shopping areas, it is actually hard to find a closed shop.
All cafes and restaurants are open for "takeaway", which means the speakeasy culture behind the facade is thriving as ever. And sometimes in front of the facade: a couple of days ago, in 24C sunshine, the present writer had a beer with fellow customers standing on the terrace of a cafe that was open for "takeaway". Well, strictly speaking, we took the beer away from the cafe, and then drank it on the terrace so we could return the empty bottles to the establishment for recycling. Fully responsible behaviour.
Parks and public spaces are open as normal and picnics galore. Especially in the recent good weather. Lots and lots of picnics everywhere with food and corks-a-poppin. Not even a semblance of "social distancing", whatever that was.
Yours truly was walking around a major Paris park about a week ago, with my extremely nice 4-legged friend, with lots and lots of people around and picnics and people sunbathing etc. And, of course, I was breathing the fresh air freely with all the scents of early spring flowers, when I saw a group of Park wardens walking up. I thought they were going to object to me exposing my fine moustache or unshaved chin but instead just said "monsieur, please make sure that beautiful dog does not go on the grass too much". I assured them we observe this rule. (Ok, I confess to some mis-reporting, they did not say "beautiful", but they should have, really.)
The "lockdown lite" means you fill out a form (available on a phone app) every time you go out, but you can fill out as many of these as you want, as often as you want. The first box to tick for an excuse to go out is "promenade". Just going for a walk. For as long as you want, as long as within a 10km radius of your address, unless you need to go further, and then the list of excuses comes in.
Hardly anyone ever asks to see any such forms, unless you get into trouble somehow (road accident, nudity, attempted assasination or whatever). The present writer does not bother filling out any forms.
Bottom line: you can do pretty much whatever you want, whenever you want, as long as that does not involve eating and drinking at the front part of a cafe-restaurant, or shopping for clothes in a store.
That is the fundamental reality.
Now, the politics: Macron has clearly become a bit anti-lockdown. He no longer wants or likes them, but is being bullied by the "experts" who dominate the "advice" the government is getting. His recent so-called lockdown is proof of how light-touch he has become.
Schools are closing for Easter anyway for two weeks. The government just added one week of tele-teaching and then some schools re-open on 26 April, while some have another week of tele-teaching and re-open 3rd May.
Note: teaching unions and many parent groups in France are strongly in favour of keeping schools open. The teaching unions here have condemned remote learning as an abject failure.
Macron also unexpectedly announced, at the same time as the new "lockdown lite" that "cultural venues" as well as bars, restaurants etc, will start re-opening around "mid-May". One of the things the lockdown hawks in France were clamouring for, was a delay to local elections in May. That is not happening. The elections are going ahead. That means that Macron really will have to keep his promise to re-open.
The Macron resistance to the white coats is popular with some polls giving over 60% approval to his decision to go against "scientific advice" for a hard lockdown in January.
So, his latest maneouvre is largely political: he gave the lockdown lobby something to chew on, while actually avoiding any serious disruption and, in a surprise move, said he will start re-opening the rest of the country in 6 weeks. In fact, although the new "lite" measures are due to come into force at midnight, Friday 2nd April, the government delayed everything till Tuesday so people can do as they want over the Easter weekend.
The way things are going, France will be fully open by mid-June, and after that, it will be nigh impossible to impose any restrictions again. People have had it, and the police are less than happy about enforcing silly rules. A few days ago, there was a big party on the riverbanks in Lyon that broke every rule, including the curfew, and the local police commander ordered his people NOT to intervene and let the party carry on as normal:
Thanks teebs..
So nice to hear you back
😁👍
SPEAKEASY CULTURE RAMPANT
Those who read my posts will notice I refer to bar and restaurants open quietly and secretly for select clients. This is an open secret in France. Within a 10 minute walk radius of where I sit typing now, I know of 4 such establishments: 2 bar-cafes and 2 bar-restaurants.
There was a recent high profile scandal on Friday when a TV channel succeeded in secretly filming a few such venues, but on the very high-society-end, with one lady saying she has been out 2 or 3 times that week and even met government ministers:
https://www.rt.com/news/520146-clandestine-dining-france-scandal/
There is no real scandal. An open secret as I say. And this is at least the second time that TV channels have "exposed" such a "scandal".
But, once in a while the rich and famous, going to more fancy venues, are more liable to being spotted and targetted. Mere mortals are at no such risk. No trouble I ever heard of at my local 4.
EU VAX PASSPORTS
They are coming ...
French press this today saying travel permits will be coming in to enable "free movement within the EU" but also non-mainland parts of France, such as Corsica:
At the moment, with the "lockdown light" in force, travel more than 10km is restricted unless you have some reason (work etc).
France does not do anything alone but always as part of an EU plan. According to the article cited above, they will be up and running by 17 June.
The interesting thing about these passes is that they will not be just vax-dependant, you can also have one if you have a negative test (though I am sure that will not be valid for long).
There is no mention here that these passes will be necessary for anything but travel. The idea of them being used for bars or large events is not on the cards, yet, but the thing about measures such as these is that, once they are in place, it is very easy to start including other things. And, if anyone thinks they are temporary, go get a cold shower. These are here to stay FOREVER. New variants, other outbreaks of other diseases ... having your vax-passport is part of a new normal life.
The nastiest and most hypocritical lie is that the government is saying these are needed to "simplify the lives of people". How on earth does adding a level of bureaucracy that compromises the privacy of your medical records, in any way "simplify" life.
And this is an important breach: medical privacy is gone.
It starts off with something as useless and innocuous as covid vaccines (for a viral contagion that is largely harmless to over 99% of people), and then other things can be added. Are you a smoker? How much do you drink? When was the last time you had a blood test? What were the results? Do you take anti-depressants or sleeping pills? How often?
Medical privacy is over. Every attendant on every passenger jet or mainline railway will soon have the legal right to your medical records as a pre-condition for getting on board. Travelling by car? Expect random (or maybe not so random) checks on the highways. The vax-passports can be linked to toll-booths.
All of this will make life "simpler".
VAX PASSES ARE COMING
A terrible Rubicon was crossed last night (evening of 10 May 2021) when the National Assembly gave first approval for a vaccination-pass in France.
The government unashamedly said it was a "pass for freedom" and the way "normal life can return". What is normal about having to disclose your medical record?
It is supposed to be restricted to "special events" of over 1,000 participants and not to be used for "daily life" such as bars, restaurants etc. If you believe that. Once the door is open, it can easily be amended and expanded.
Opposition was virtually non-existant. In particular, the party of Marine Le Pen, who had previously been anti-pass, caved in, and suggested only an amendment that passes would only be required for events of over 5,000 rather than 1,000.
What was really weird however, was that, given the highly contentious nature of the law and how controversial it is, the great majority of deputies stayed away. Out of a chamber of almost 600, the vote was 115-28.
It seems that most deputies, even in the large Macron majority, wanted nothing to do with it, and the minimum presence was needed to push it through.
This is the first reading and it now bounces back and forth but, the passes are here, and they are here to stay, and they will only become more intrusive. This is about as "temporary" as income tax.
With Le Pen folding, and other political names agitating strongly against, it now remains to be seen if a challenge to the presidency will be made based on rescinding covid laws. I have little doubt there will be such a challenge, but it will not come from any of the established camps, and in the face of heavy media brainwashing, it will be a tough uphill fight.
