Daily Post – February 16th 2021

Living through a pandemic

in the south of France

335 days in Carcassonne since

1st lockdown in March 2020

▫️ DAILY AND WEEKLY STATISTICS HERE .

▫️ NEWS AND TITBITS

▫️ COVID patients: There were about thirty of them nine days ago and only about ten at the beginning of the week.
At the hospital in Carcassonne, the situation has greatly improved. Quite quickly. While on February 5th, the director of the hospital centre, Alain Guinamant, explained that he was “very very vigilant, activity is constantly increasing everywhere”, nine days later, the situation has radically changed within the health establishment.

▫️ COVID-19

I was surfing, as I do on a daily basis, the different governement and ministry pages and suddenly noticed that the Health Ministry has subtly changed the distance between two people from 1 metre to 2 metres.

▫️ VACCINES

Eight million first injections by the end of March, that’s the objective stated yesterday morning by Professor Alain Fischer, the government’s Mister Vaccine. I have updated the follow-up chart on the data page with this target.

I shall from now on include the following chart showing the number of doses injected.

▫️ MONTHLY DEATHS

The provisional number of Decembre death (all causes) in France is now available .

In France, the number of deaths in 2020 increased by 9% compared to the previous year, according to statistics published by INSEE in mid-January. And in Europe? The situation is highly contrasted, both in terms of the rise in mortality and the way it is distributed between the two waves of the Covid-19 epidemic. Although affected from the first wave, France is in a median position among European countries. At the end of the year, several countries experienced an extremely sharp rise in mortality, particularly in Eastern Europe. In these countries, the real-time counting of deaths linked to Covid-19 by the health authorities does not always give a clear picture of the seriousness of the situation.

▫️ ANCILLARY NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND from our correspondent in Britain

Your correspondent in Britain has been away for a few days, but here are a few things he has seen and fancies trying:

But before that, I take the opportunity to wish him a Happy Birthday today

Recipe: Rhubarb and custard crepes

✒️ We’re never ones to approach Pancake Day in a halfhearted manner., particularly not this year of all years. Why settle for lemon and sugar when you can dress up your crepe with this continental take on a classic English treat? Shrove Tuesday never tasted quite this good before. https://www.thesimplethings.com/blog/2014/03/04/pancakes

YUM YUM !

TARQUIN’S CORNISH PASTIS

Regular price £35.00

✒️ A contemporary Cornish take on the French aniseed classic. Tarquin’s Cornish Pastis is the first ever to be made in the UK, and the first Pastis to ever win “Double Gold” at the San Francisco World Spirits Awards. Foraged gorse flowers from the Atlantic clifftops and fresh orange zest help to deliver its fresh, invigorating and unique aroma. Zero added sugar. Tarquin’s bold celebration of unique craft distilling. 70cl – 42% ABV.

There is in fact a bottle in JJ’s household

HIC

▫️ MUSIC

ANOTHER ONE IN MY TOP 100

My list would not be complete without The Doors. A major favorite of mine, all songs in fact. And yes I am one of the ones who has been to Jim Morisson’s tomb in the Père Lachaise cemetary in Paris. I hear it was no longer allowed due to the large number of people turning up everyday and the degradation caused, let alone people staying for hours listening to music whilst drinking and smoking weird substances.

▫️ PIC OF THE DAY – 50 Years

Many moons ago I celebrated my 50th birthday in Brèves in the Nièvre departement. Weird idea many said since we were living in Germany at the time. As it happens many family and friends from the UK and Germany as well as France of course turned up and made a long weekend out of it. They were possibly attracted by the barrel of wine I had promised and indeed delivered and installed under the plane tree in the village square in front of the town hall. We partied all afternoon and evening after a very pleasant dinner we had organised in one of the rooms in the town hall itself.

Left to right, daughter Claire, grand daughter Noëlle, my wife Carole, my step mother and my father, grand son Sean in my arms and my son Jacques, finally the barrel of wine.

▫️ POSSIBLE NEW PROJECT

Toying with the idea of classic car swap. My Mehari in exchange for this 504 coupé.

Just a thought

▫️ NEWS FROM ACROSS THE POND

▫️ WEATHER

Definetly must try to gou for a long walk tomorrow

Still all is quiet as far as floods are concerned in our region.

We are still “Green”.

▫️ VENDEE GLOBE

As expected arrival number 21 took place earlier this morning at 9.28am. The boat “Companie du lit” rounded the globe in 99 days 6 hours, 27 minutes. Another 4 boats are still in the race and another 2 no longer in the race but limping back home.