Nous sommes arrrivés en France!

Hi everyone! We have decided against starting a brand new blog and will just continue our adventures in France in this same blog- PnB Indo Adventures! Our "5-month" detour in the US has ended and our new adventure begins.

We have arrived in France! 

As our "5-month detour" in the US turned into a one year stay due to COVID-19, we got word we could finally make the transition to France.

With about 3 weeks notice, the powers that be got together and we got a launch date. First on the agenda was to find someplace to get a COVID19-PCR test and get back the results within 72 hours of the flights. We understand this may be the norm in some areas, but not in KY. It could take 1-2 weeks to get the results. B's plant nurse was a HUGE help and we found a travel/passport/inoculation place that said they could do it! Once we figured this out, packers were arranged, flights were booked and organization began. We made our appointments for the COVID-19 tests.

How were the flights? The check-in step was unusually complicated. It took over 30 minutes. Why? Our visas had been extended for 6 months and there was nothing in the airline's system to allow us to board the flights. The poor agent put up with a 20+ minute hold before someone even answered his call. We had copies of our negative COVID19 tests, letters from the French government indicating under which allowance we were permitted to enter as well as documentation that our  residence VISA expiration dates had been extended, so we were "legal." I'm glad there was no long backed-up line behind us. There were only two agents at the counter but the other guy handled the few other passengers.

COVID19 Procedures

Masks were required on all 3 of our flights. We were allowed to wear the cotton fabric masks I had constructed on the first leg (Delta), but when we switched to Air France for the other two legs, they required the light blue medical-type masks. Due to the great fit of our cotton masks (with non-woven interfacing layer(s)), they actually provide better protection than the ill-fitting medical masks— but it was a black and white rule. No gray area of interpretation. 

Throughout our journey we saw far too many people either mask-less or wearing their mask inappropriately. By inappropriately, I mean either covering only their mouth, but not their nose, or just hanging below their chin or off their ear. In restaurants and lounge areas I personally witnessed folks sitting mask-less, on their phones or chatting with friends, for upwards of an hour while never once putting their masks back on. They were not actively using the eating/drinking exception. 

Social distancing was also not followed. Seats were blocked off at 2 of the 3 gates we used. Airline websites indicated this was the case. In one lounge, this sign blocked off seats.

While some folks read the sign and sat down elsewhere, many just sat right down in these seats anyway. 

The planes themselves were not full so that helped with the social distancing. Again, though, I could see folks leaving their masks off for extended periods. 

So, we arrived on the evening of October 23 and entered our one week isolation. 

Note: On October 30, France imposed a lockdown for 4 weeks so we will spend another 4 weeks basically as we spent the first week. We will, however, require a signed certificate  (signed by us) as to the reason we are out of the apartment when we go out. We didn't need a signed certificate during our isolation period. We can go to the grocery store, B can go to the office if necessary (he will work from home a lot), and we can go for walks for up to 1 hr but we must stay within 1 km of the apartment. Masks are required when in public spaces per the regulation. On our first day of lockdown, we took a masked walk with our certificates and we saw far fewer people out and about, but some were still not wearing masks. I think maybe the spring lockdown rules said if you were out to run for exercise you didn't have to wear a mask but I haven't seen this exception in the new regulations. We even saw three youngish girls loaded into a small car - no masks among them. They did have the car windows open at least.

This is our temporary apartment. Due to the lockdown, we believe we are not permitted to begin our search for a permanent place to live. That means we will be longer in the temp apartment. 

The first photo is most of the apartment. The second photo is the bathroom complete with washer/dryer combo. Not pictured is the bedroom. We found ample room to store what we brought with us- though our suitcases are stacked in the living room. Yay! The kitchen has a microwave, a gas cooktop and electric oven. A great combo as far as I'm concerned and the same brand and nearly the same model as the cooktop/oven we had in Indonesia. There is a Moulinex immersion blender-smoothie maker-mixer device! There is a minimum supply of plates, utensils, saucepans, etc. We have a small balcony.

Our building is the yellowish one. The blue arrow indicates our balcony. You don't see much setback from the street/sidewalks.

This is the view to the left from the balcony.

This is the view to the right from the balcony.

From our main room windows we can actually see the spires of Cathedral Notre-Dame-de-L'Assomption. It's a gothic cathedral built from 1248. Most of the current building dates from the 2nd half of the 13th c. The west facade and other renovations were done in the second half of the 19th c. This is the first example of architecture using volvic stone- volcanic rock. That's why it's all grey- black. I'm sure we will want to take a closer look at this at some point during our stay.

This is our street.

We found the apartment stocked with a few basics: coffee, tea, milk, orange juice, bottled water, cereal and sugar. That was great. We would have something to eat in the morning! The orange juice was really nice!

These are really tasty toasts!