Paris COVID-19 Quarantine - Day 1

Or more to the point, day 1/2 as it didn't start until midday. We woke up, had breakfast and a little while later planned to go down the road to get some croissants and pain au chocolat before we realized that really isn't in the spirit of things at all. I also wanted to see my cousin who was doing some work in one of the restaurants near us but decided not to. He did come past later though and dropped us off a couple of bottles of wine for emergency which was very nice of him.

Paris, or the restaurants at least, have suffered a bit of a double whammy with the demonstrations and transportation strikes driving away tourists through the Christmas period and now the virus killing tourism again. Basically, no-one was really making much money before the virus and now they are losing it rapidly. My understanding of things is that the French government has stepped in to pay the minimum wage to workers who lose hours.

After midday the streets were deader than before. I keep on expecting tumbleweeds. I mean, there are still people out and doing things but all the shops are closed up. Places I have never seen closed before are shuttered up. It completely changes the look of the city.

Although I had been feeling better after all the sleep, by the time it was nine o'clock I was starting to fall over again with coughing and phlem. The really annoying stuff where no matter how hard you cough you can't get it out. I haven't had a rise in temperature so it probably is just a very badly timed cold which is annoying as it means I will have to go through this again when I do get Coronavirus as 70% of the population is expected to get it eventually. I went to bed with the French version of Vicks and some sort of Vitamin C drink.

I think I have it easy. Angelynn is here to put up with my grumpy flu stuff. I get to bathe in the sunshine and occasional sneeze or regurgitation of Mr Wiggles. There are a lot of people out there alone. Not, by the sounds it the people who ran up the stairs yesterday to the clicking of bottles but the elderly, the homeless and others. Who will give money to the beggars now? And should they accept it?

The people in the apartment above us are sick. I think she is OK but he is not well.

At seven o'clock we are encouraged to go to the balcony and clap in support of our health workers. Poor buggers. We missed last night as we did not know but we shall tonight. Not that we have a balcony but a window will do.