So we left Bordeaux on a beautiful spring day.Polite police checked us through into the station area, we were gloved and masked (amazing fact - as soon as you put on a mask you start getting an itchy face) and we were on the train to Paris. Disinfecting is a full time job. I disinfected with the gloves on, disinfected my phone, the handle of my bag that the Uber driver had touched, then finally took the gloves off and disinfected the hands and then realised I had to go to the toilet! Then it all started again. I touched as little as possible but then remembered that the little Covid 19 could live on clothes for hours, maybe a day, depending upon which news article you read. Had I brushed against the toilet door? The daughter suggested we change as soon as we got to the hotel and put our clothes into isolation. We unanimously agreed.
The taxi driver, a small weedy looking guy with greased back hair, looked at us upon arrival with our seven suitcases (I had one but the girls had packed for a year) and said he'd get us a van and then for some reason he had .change of mind and guided us to his sedan (the daughter was pleased as she had seen him spraying his car liberally with disinfectant beforehand). I couldn't see it being possible. He packed it once and tried to close the boot; we could see that wasn't going to happen. Then another guy came along and pulled them all back out and repacked them and minus one suitcase, which rode beside the driver, they managed to fit them all in. It was a Laurel and Hardy moment as the driver kept on saying to us: Just 2 minutes, just 2 minutes, which I think was the most English he spoke. We squashed in the back seat with our other four small bags and were most appreciative when he put classical music on. We had survived section 1 and were making headway into section 2 - the airport hotel. This is where I was armed with a large bottle of disinfectant but it wasn't needed. There was disinfectant in various locations everywhere, they even wiped the computer screen before we checked in online. We spoke in a mixture of French (the daughter's partner was excellent) and English only to find out he was American.
Then to our room we went for a taste of hotel isolation with no opening windows and I have to say, it's not pleasant not to be able to breathe in fresh air. I could open my door and go for a walk down the corridor but you couldn't go downstairs so I pretended I was in for the long haul. I started to freak out. Had to do some deep breathing and I've only been here for seven hours! Watch this space.
Fields of rapeseed on the way to Paris.
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