Lockdown light October 30-December 1st. What’s happening?

The going out is supposed to be limited to within 1 kilometer of your residence.

Thanks Bets. I was thinking about you when I saw this information the other day.
If I remember correctly, you are in a lovely small town with everything you might need close at hand.
Hopefully this will not last too long, but I am happy that you are in a good place in a country that you want to be in.
Take good care and stay well.
SharYn

The going out is supposed to be limited to within 1 kilometer of your residence.

That restriction is only for "going out" for exercise, dog walking, etc.

If you need to go further for groceries, medicine, doctor's appointment, or other approved reasons, your excursion can exceed 1 km.

Once again an attestation (written explanation for being outside one's home) is required; slightly revised from that required in the Spring.

You can travel for the purposes of relocating (new lease, recent house purchase) but the travel is supposed to occur only if it cannot be delayed. Similarly, you can hire a moving company to move your furniture. Or you can move it yourself (or with those living in your household). What you can't do is use friends or nonprofessional movers to move your stuff.

Edited to correct error: restaurants either are closed or may only offer take-out. There are enhanced restrictions on gatherings generally. Bars are closed. Tabacs are open. Haircut places are closed.

My observation thus far (it is only the first day of this new round of confinement) is that those places that are allowed to stay open, such as supermarkets, have fewer restrictions than in the Spring.

For example, in the Spring, only one person was allowed to enter the store at a time. If a husband and wife approached the entrance, a guard would demand that one stay outside. That kind of restriction did not exist today when I went to the store.

The situation is evolving. Because of the Nice attack and (perhaps) because Castex is not Philippe (no judgment implied -- I'm just getting to know the guy) details are a bit sketchier than I would prefer.

Yikes, they were just showing news film of the massive traffic jam out of Paris before curfew and lockdown:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54742795

Hope our RS friends in France are safe and snug at home!

France24 also showed a lot of tape of the traffic problems getting out of Dodge,
and also the mixed feelings that those in small towns on the coast have about a lot of people arriving to ride this out.

There is no “dining in” in restaurants.

You're correct. The "enhanced restrictions" I was thinking of were the restrictions that were implemented more broadly the week before -- my error. During the current lockdown, there is no in-restaurant dining; just take-out.

It’s definitely hard keeping track week to week !

Sadly I am a little too up-close-and-personal with whatever is going on with restaurants, since my husband works in one.

However, he got laid off this week (not Covid-related), so I don’t guess I will keep as close an eye on it for the moment.

Kim, I’m sorry to hear about your husband losing his job. Do they have unemployment benefits there?

sorry about your husband, Kim. I guess it will cut down on the trips to Lille?

Thanks Nigel and Andrea
1) yes there are unemployment benefits here. The indemnities you get depend on the reason (“motif”) / category the employer uses to fire you — so we are waiting on that official word.

2) yes , no more back and forth to Lille, which makes me sad. I really love that city, I find it so charming and loved envisioning us living there for real. Of course for now I am grateful we only went month to month rather than signing a long-term lease for Marco there.

Oh well we are not the first ones to lose a job ! We will be ok.

Kim,

So sorry to hear about your husband getting laid off... Hopefully he will find another job in a timely manner.

Thanks Priscilla.

As far as an overall description Of the lockdown conditions, Bets was spot-on.

The other element that is slightly interesting is the fuss from independent bookstores at not being classed as essential businesses and thus having to remain closed. Meanwhile stores that sell a combo of things, like FNAC, were classed as essential because they have computer material that people may need to help them telework (which is being strongly encouraged by the government).

Finally during the first day of lockdown, FNAC and other big retailers were told to close their books sections so they wouldn’t derive an unfair advantage over the now-closed independents.

there are lots of articles in the press and petitions flying around to try to press the government to change its stance on bookstores.

I'm sorry, Kim.

Another controversy is that the large food stores also sell books, clothes, and housewares, while clothing shops, too, are closed, listed as non-essential. Some superstores have roped off these sections, leaving only the food available, but not all have.

Kim, I’m very sorry for your husband and you. Hope things work out very soon.

On a much lighter note, what’s the toilet paper supply status in France? Any renewed hoarding happening?

I heard from a friend on FB yesterday that the shelves were picked over for t.p., but when my husband went to the store today he said there was plenty (and bought two packs of our preferred brand).

And a new update : as of tomorrow evening in Paris and the immediate suburbs, restaurants and other eateries will not be able to deliver or have food for pickup after 10 pm. Nor will places be able to sell alcohol after that time (again for pickup or delivery as all restaurants and bars are closed).

And on the book front, the government said today that it will cover mailing costs for books that people are ordering from independent bookstores.

From the provinces...

The local hypermarché outside town and the smaller market in town both seem quite normal. Shelves are stocked as usual. No apparent gaps on the shelves or shortages, unlike what we saw this Spring. We'll see if that continues as the lockdown wears on. The in-town smaller market once again is stocking bags for delivery to elderly customers (not that that stopped over the summer; it just wasn't as widespread or visible).

Free book postage? That says a lot about priorities ... I like it.

Saw a socially distanced line outside one of our local, independent bookstores this morning here in the south. People were picking up the books they had ordered.

I saw a video of it on YouTube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PCpibytEz4A

Seems to be working. The daily infection rate (based on the 7-day moving average) began dropping on November 8, cut in half from 54,000/day to 26,000/day today.

Sam, that’s impressive.
I just wonder if people will be willing to follow the lockdown order through the winter, say to the end of March.

Down to 9,406 yesterday. Reproduction rate fell from 1.4 to .81 sometime early last week. The last stat to drop will be ICU.
We’ll get out for December and most people assume there will be new restrictions after January.
Will people accept it, Susan? There’s grumbling from some, crises for some shop owners and small businesses, but everyone knows the alternative. And police patrol and fine.

we were watching the graphs of the various European (and a couple of non-European) countries last night. It certainly seems that while France still has relatively high numbers the graph is certainly coming down significantly. With R Numbers like that the improvement is clear.

No idea, but highly doubt hotels have open dining rooms. I suppose there's only limited room service. From my conversations with a woman living in Amsterdam, it appears much stricter in France. Masks have been mandatory for a while, we need to fill out a form to leave the house, we can have 1 hour of outside exercise a day.
But, these measures have started working. We're now on the downward slope of the wave. A third wave will probably start after the holidays because...
It's suggested (not official yet) on the evening news that stores will be able to open in 2 weeks on appointment or limited basis for Christmas shopping. Restaurants will open with restrictions, but not bars, cafes, gyms, movies, theaters. Masks will continue to be mandatory, we'll still need to fill out forms to leave the house, but people will be able to go 100 kilometers instead of 1.
Hope NL makes it to the downward slope quickly.

Hi Ron — no, restaurants in hotels aren’t open. My husband was working in a restaurant in a hotel — they already closed to all but room service just when the curfew went into effect in several cities in mid-October. When the second lockdown came a couple of weeks later, the hotel just shut down completely.

I was talking to the manager of a big five-star Parisian hotel a couple of weeks ago. He said they had done decent business once they had reopened in the summer, from other Europrean clients (and also, probably, because so many Palace hotels never opened this summer). They shut back down a few days later as they couldn’t justify even the skeleton staff and the utility charges etc.

So no, there is no dining in hotels going on.

President Macron plans to address the nation Tuesday night. It is supposed that he will give the broad outlines of a supposed “deconfinement by areas,” but we will see — the French government is getting a lot of criticism for having opened up too quickly in the late spring/early summer, so I am not sure how far they will go. On the other hand , the small retailers and the hospitality industry are begging to be allowed to open in the lead-up to Christmas. Things are so schizophrenic that the rail operator has opened up tickets for the holidays — but no one knows yet if we’ll actually be able to go anywhere then.

We shall see. We will learn something this week.

And Nigel — yes, the numbers in France are coming down. I have a little whiteboard on my wall where I track the “rate of occurrence” that the government publishes in its weekly epidemiological report — the report published on Thursday showed a dramatic drop over the previous week— which had already shown a drop from the week prior to that. And the R numbers look almost unbelievably low.

But we know they can turn back upwards SO easily — and with deaths being a lagging indicator, we still have more of those coming than we would wish.

An update as of President Macron’s address on Tuesday November 24:

— As of Saturday Nov 28, we can now go up to 20 kms from our residence for up to 3 hours per day (still with attestation, but up from 1 km/1hr);
— non-essential shops were allowed to open.
— attestations still required if you have to go to work (if you can’t telework), go to doctor, go shopping.
— up to 30 people can attend a religious service in person (In fact, the Conseil d’Etat has already struck down this limit and told the government to negotiate about the # allowed)

IF the numbers continue improving, then as of December 15:
— we won’t have to have attestations to leave our house any more
— you can leave your region- meant to allow French families to travel to celebrate Christmas
— cinemas, museums, and theaters can re-open with strict sanitary protocols.

Two things to note here:
1) ski resorts can open, but not ski LIFTS. I am not making this up.
— the earliest that bars and restaurants will be able to open is January 20th — and even then, ONLY if the government is satisfied with the downward trajectory of the rate of spread of the virus.

Over lunch at home today, I was just saying that I’m worried that small restaurants could have a tough time staying in business in the future, even when they can have limited diners inside, whenever that might be. With only a couple of tables, who are spending the whole night there for dinner, that’s not a whole lot of revenue. I’m especially thinking about a couple favorite places in Nice.

Take-out is a relatively new concept in France, I believe. And for bigger, Michelin-starred institutions, who’s going to want to spend €150 or more per person for a meal in styrofoam clamshell containers at home?

ski resorts can open, but not ski LIFTS.

Just got to love it when a committee reaches a compromise. ( Is there any other way to reach such a policy?)

Yes, Cyn, the hospitality industry is suffering, and who knows how many will survive.

For example: the place where my husband was working this year:
- closed completely between March 14 and June 17
- open from June 17 -October 19 or so, but with only half the tables available (to make more space between diners available to allow for social distancing).
- Closed again since October 19. They tried to offer take out or pickup for a week or two, but soon gave up on that. So they have been closed completely for a little longer than a month.
- Only possible re-opening Jan 20 — and if they CAN open then, it would be again with only half the tables etc.

Most of the big places have simply never re-opened since March 14, finding the constraints under which they had to operate during the summer “open” period top restrictive (or deciding that the clientele wouldn’t be there anyway, for example, in Paris).

Wouldn´t it be a lot safer if the lifts opened and the resorts stayed closed?

Ah, skiing. This is shaping up to be a much more cross country season for us, than downhill. Colorado got a small new ski area in Grand County earlier this year, which is expanding for the 2020/21 season, but it’s liftless by design. Its whole scope is for skiers to get themselves up, primarily with Alpine Touring or telemark equipment, and climbing skins, so this is clearly a specialized market. They’re going to limit the number of skiers allowed, to provide more distance, and there’s no apres-ski lodge or glamor skiing atmosphere.

Other places, such as mountain passes accessible by highway, have had backcountry skiers and snowboarders for years, but an in-bounds operation provides avalanche control and medical services that are absent from backcountry runs. I’m guessing the number of people skiing the Mer de Glacé in France will be minimal, without having a tram to get anyone up the extreme climb to the Aguille du Midi take-off point.

One ski area in Colorado, which planned to open mid-November but is now looking at a delayed opening, had a lift running this whole time, but wasn’t open to the public. Only ski patrollers, instructors out for practice, and racers doing organized training were riding it. Not certain what health protocols have been in place, and not that there’s that much snow to ski on ... mostly man-made and on a couple short runs. It’s going to be a very different season coming up, for those who will have a season of any kind.

Vermont has opened up ski resorts with some pretty strict parameters, including lodges running at 50% capacity, lifts under similar capacity restrictions unless riding with others in your party, masks everywhere inside buildings and on/near lifts, plus there is a 14 day quarantine required for any travel from out of state. So the resorts aren’t expecting much out-of-state business at all.

https://accd.vermont.gov/sites/accdnew/files/documents/Vermont%20Ski%20Resort%20COVID-19%20Winter%20Operations%20Guidance%20-%202020-11-03.pdf

I am glad that the numbers are looking better in France. Many sacrifices have been made. I hope that we in the US can see similar trends in the near future, but I’m not feeling optimistic after the holiday weekend.