Lockdown conditions in France

[CroissantsAtDawn]

Ive seen lots of threads with people worrying about lockdown.and how they would cope/ it would be enforced.

Last night, following the President's announcement I received a text message from the government confirming the lockdown for 15 days and linking to a site with details.

From 12 today we are only allowed out to go to work if work from home isnt possible, buy groceries, see a doctor, help elderly/vulnerable family in need (with reminder about barrier actions), to let a dog do its business or for individual physical activity close to home.

Each time you need a paper dated and signed explaining why you are out. Infringements are fined 38-135 euros. The paper can be downloaded and printed, shown on your phone or just hand written.

100 000 police and army personnel are being deployed to enforce the conditions.

No mention of how children can exercise. Just that parks etc are closed and there should be no family or friends gathering.

We are going to test going out early for run with 1 DC each and hope that is allowed in "individual activity". If its not I ll stand on the doorstep and watch them run up and down the road (2 highly active boys living in a flat....)

Ive woken up incredibly depressed. Listening to the birds singing and being surrounded by buildings.

We ve often discussed moving out of Paris nearer the country/sea but for jobs we're stuck here. The only way we counter the depressing winter months (we dont ski) is by planning weekends away in the Spring and summer. Or just day trips to the countryside/sea.

And now we cant. Our trip to see family in the UK at Easter is cancelled. And we're not allowed further than 500m from the flat

We usually go swimming every weekend and cycling to bois de boulogne. Then maybe a walk somewhere less built up. Instead we re stuck.

Can't even sort out the flat cos that would involve taking old furniture to the dump (closed) and buying new furniture (shop closed). Or doing tiling in the bathroom (shop closed).

Im wondering if I should order birthday presents for DS2 (early May) in case deliveries are prohibited.

Solidarity Croissants! I am surrounded by flats too - we can see over 100 from our windows! Normally I like it, a bit like being in Rear Window but I really want to see a horizon and some nature.

I understand the frustration of not being able to do jobs. I can think of 101 jobs to do but everything needs something from the shops. I'm lucky to be in the countryside though. We have a big garden and can get out for exercise. People in the cities definitely have it worse. I wonder if we will see an exodus to the country once this is over.

How do those who have symptoms or who have chronic illness get food?
We are in the UK and currently been home for 20 days and have only had supermarket delivery so far. Are these services still available?
I'm terrified of having to stand in a queue in a shop!

Salut! So nice to have a local thread. We are in Lyon: like you @CroissantsAtDawn we have two active boys (12 and 9) in an apartment... it’s hard. DH is a teacher (college and lycée) and has been stuck to his computer 11 hours a day since last Friday, trying to get classes online - so it has fallen to me to be maman-maîtresse:-/ I should be good at it, but there is a lot of resentment bubbling away as I try to wfh as well.

School stuff is complicated for DS12 in 5e - we use Pronote which is dreadfully unsuited to home learning. Teachers are using lots of different ways to contact him, so we have to trawl the whole system every morning to find all his work. Some want it sent back, some don’t. Much easier for DS9 who’s in CM2 - 4-5 hours work each day plus lots of extra activities. But he needs (and is loving) a lot of input.

Both are missing their friends hugely. This is going to get worse.

We live opposite a small stade... it’s quiet most of the day but evening there are often 20-25 people on there, playing football / basketball in groups - plus families. It seems to have escaped the physical locking of the gates and the police have been round to fine / send people hone.

Shops are ok, they seem well stocked enough albeit a slow process as only 10 people allowed in at once and at least 1m apart in the queues.

Waving from Chamonix. Strange season this turned out to be. It now seems very, very empty here. DP was stopped by the Police Municipal on his run yesterday. They were polite & friendly, checked his Attestation and then they were on their way. DP was within 2k of our apartment though.

Someone cooked a curry yesterday and the smell was delicious, wafting over from another building....

Walked to larger of the two small supermarkets for eggs & cheese & bread.

A local burger joint cooks takeaway now, closes at 18.00. We treated ourselves last night.

It's just so, so quiet Apart from when the kids upstairs put their clogs on and run round screaming. But they have always done that - nothing to do with being cooped up. There must be 100 apartments in the building, only 4 are inhabited and the anti-social ones are directly above us .

Here is yesteday's highlight.

I'm feeling quite depressed this morning too. I live in a rural town and have a garden but it is tiny, which is why I like to get out for a walk. However, they have now closed all the parks and the path by the river so there is nowhere to walk apart from around the houses.

Normally I like my garden because it has very high walls so no one can see in and it is completely private but right now I would like to see an actual person and have a face to face conversation.

My husband died a few years ago. My daughters are students in England and my elderly mother is also in England so I am at home by myself with the cat. I have been talking to family and friends by phone/Skype but it's not the same as seeing them in person.

And I am a teacher and although putting everything online is keeping me busy, it is not the same as teaching a class and much less satisfying.

Like croissants@dawn It is a beautiful spring morning which seems such a contrast to the horrors going on in the world at the moment.

I agree about the possible exodus from cities after this is over. Except I'm expecting high unemployment so I'm not sure if it'll be a reality.

DH apparently got told off by a fellow runner yesterday for being out with a child. Though we've seen no instructions for children so I'm not sure why. This morning we just stuck within 800m of our flat and ran past all the local supermarkets (4!) and Picard to see if they appear to have stock and what time they open.

DH then carried on running and got shouted at by a woman for overtaking her and not leaving 1m . People are getting edgy.

We hardly see any children in the street. God knows where they all are. They must be calm children because the idea of keeping my boys inside all day every day is just horrendous.

Yesterday was sunny so we had the windows open. Today is chilly so it's not as pleasant.

Im anticipating more restrictions on deliveries so have ordered loads of reading books in French and English for DS1. Plus a board game. Plus clippers to cut their hair (!) And we've ordered a couple of toys for DS2's birthday. Amazon usually delivers here within 3 days. They estimate 10 atm.

@Watchagotcha
Definitely understand the resentment. Yes DHs job is more important than mine right know (and always actually) but juggling my work plus the boys is awful.

And getting info from teachers via ecole directe. But also email. And they put stuff up for one day then go back and edit it so you miss things. And how are you meant to print with no printer?!

The mental load is enormous. Meal planning so I know exactly what we need to buy. Checking all homework is done and what needs to be sent is sent on time (and the other stuff can be left til the weekend...)

And like I said thinking about a future birthday....and all the time worrying that they'll increase restrictions or one of us will get ill.

Its mentally exhausting. And my friend gently reminded me last night that its going to last a long time so I need to find some way of coping. My usual way of coping with stress is to go swimming....

Morning all. DH is off to collect our first ever shop from Drive this morning. We found a YouTube video telling us how to do it. 😂
Our lovely weather has gone and it is cold, grey and misty. DH is repairing frames to cover the raised beds. The hamlet is incredibly quiet. Only 60 in the commune but the farmers are normally much busier.
We are spending a lot of time on Facetime with the grandchildren. Am now reading eldest GDs books for English A level so I can discuss them with her. We are comparing Cold Comfort Farm and Pride and Prejudice. I love CCF but have always thought of it as a Thomas Hardy pastiche, so not sure how that will go.
I am also trying to keep in touch with the U3A classes I teach but 1.6 mbps of "broadband" is a bit limiting. We are supposed to be getting fibre soon but I guess that will be on hold.

My friend got stopped by the Gendarmes yesterday. She lives in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere and she was taking her dog for a walk.

The Gendarmes were very thorough in checking the time she had put on her form to make sure she hadn't been out too long.

What time are you meant to put? When you leave home or what? We have a 14km drive to the shops, plus shopping time, plus drive home.

I must have missed the bit about putting a time on the form, I've just been putting a date.

I am very fortunate I live in a small hamlet and my house is set away from the others and I have a very large garden. I'm surrounded by elderly neighbours and I'm going to do my first Drive collection for them all this afternoon.
Some of them have been fretting because grass was not being cut due to their own ill health or family not being close by. So yesterday I locked them all in their houses and cut the lawns. I feel so sorry for them, they are all elderly and some are living alone. They all stood behind their windows to watch me. It's the only social interaction they've had all week.
The only negative I've had was from someone who heard me shouting to a neighbour from her garden gate that she needed to leave me her shopping list in her post box and I'd collect it later. These people heard my English accent and gave me hell for being in my maison secondaire and not going back to the uk. These people are Parisiennes and only arrived on Tuesday they must have hammered it down here after Macron's speech. They are generally only here for August. I've lived in this village for 18 years. Such hypocrisy.

What a cheek! I would ask them if they would like to do the next run of collecting shopping from Drive. 😀

Ive not seen a time on the form.

And we've been writing the date in pencil to be able to keep using the same piece of paper.

Went out to the shops and again saw no police. I suspect they're all deployed trying to stop Parisians from leaving for the weekend.

Managed to buy flour and pasta and bread. Meat is in short supply though.

Hello all, how lovely to read your stories of neighbourly help and day to day interaction.

The time thing was mentioned by Castaner during an interview saying it would show that you were de bon fois.

We have our DD1 currently quite anxious as she is cabin crew at Air France. She been on holiday these past two weeks but her next flight is to Bangkok tomorrow and hygiene measures aren't being taken seriously for them. Lots of background union work going on.

DS is in his 3rd year of uni and this involves alternance - working part-time /being at uni part time. Uni fully shut with no lessons provided and told to WFH by company. So he is shut up in his bedroom from 9-5 each day.

La petite dernière, DD2, is 9 and in CM1. Her teacher is a star and has been sending 6 pages of work each day with the corrections being sent at 4.30pm. Lots of links for spelling tests and mental arithmetic. Music, games and scientific experiments included. We stick to the school timetable which helps enormously.

DH working from home on the landing.

Hi from Moselle!

Doing OK with the confinement so far apart from the occasional anxious thought, which we all must have.
I'm pretty sauvage anyway, so not noticing much difference... DH is enjoying working from home and not having to take the dreaded A31 to Luxembourg every day.

Went to Grand Frais yesterday morning and it was very well stocked. There was a security guard on the door, letting people in one by one as others were leaving. The Picard was empty bar one other customer, so popped in there, too. Might try to arrange a Leclerc Drive for next week but TBH I won't be expecting much.
Nice to see such a thread on MN.

We live on a boulevard with a wide paved section in the middle.
Neighbour's son just got fined for skateboarding there - that's leisure, not sport, unless you're a champion. Only running/walking allowed.
Not sure how kids' scooters are classified.

Reading this from the UK to mentally prepare myself for what is probably coming here. I have a young and very active dog and a small garden so she will have to be walked somehow, off lead. Provided I can drive to a friend's farm or the local woods all will be well...

Good luck to all of you. This whole situation feels completely surreal.

Eek for the skateboarding! Our 5 year old often skateboards on the pavement in front of our building.

How old is neighbour's son?

Extremely quiet here. Despite being a main Avenue. Hardly any children outside except ours! (Twice a day).

We run first thing but the 2nd time is a game of chat (tig) with papa. I'd be very pissed off being fined for that. Its hard getting a 5 and 8 year old out just walking or running. They need to play.

The day has passed much better than in the week although we are all tired (emotional tiredness?). We've been out for 2x20 minutes. And played cards. The boys have played with their toys and done their homework. DH has cleaned several windows and we've done a dance exercise video and a bodycombat exercise video. They are currently playing a very loud game of chase with papa but soon it'll be teeth then clapping at the window then bed.

This week has been very strange.

He's 19. He's not v tall, though seriously musclebound, so I don't know how old they thought he was until they got up close.
I reckon they'd let a 5 yr old skateboard, because they realise jogging at that age is tricky, esp in town. Whereas the 19 yr old could go for a run here quite easily.
Neighbour has texted again to say she suspects their (totally batshit) NDN may have called the police to shop him, so I'd carry on letting your DS do it unless they say otherwise.

Provided I can drive to a friend's farm or the local woods all will be well...

If you go into lockdown then no you can't do this.
You can go to the supermarket or the pharmacy or to work and that's it.

No visiting, no days out.
No meeting your friends.

Phew thanks. Though we havent seen a police officer since Tuesday so Im not sure why Im worried.

Agree with no driving to friends with the dog. Here its literally you can take them out to do their business and thats it.

There's one bloke we've never seen before but always seems to be walking his dog whilst we're walking the DC He's started nodding and smiling at us which is nice.

Thé stade opposite us has been cleared twice by the police, lots of fines issued. The gates now padlocked shut, tape and a sign.

We still had one plonker turn up and jump the fence to play basketball.., our neighbours were shouting at him from their window: then the police turned up.

It appears we have very different definitions of the word “essential” going around.

We also had an army jeep in our street this morning - first time I’ve seen that.

On thé plus side, the silence is lovely and the birds are loving it!