I saw one of those classic car restauration program a couple of days ago and this one was about a 60’s Chevrolet Corvair and I remembered I was the co-owner of one in 1973 whilst living in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
For a while we did the almost 3 hours trip (slow speed limits were in force during that period) New York practically every weekend to meet up with some friends.
It looked just like the car in the pic, including the red interior. From what I remember I was not too impressed at the time with the road handling characteristics. Good thing we were most of the time on highways and namely the New Jersey Turnpike.
La vérité d’aujourd’hui n’est pas forcément vraie demain
Day 63 in Carcassonne and the 2nd day of the 2nd week of the controlled de-confinement
🎶 A favorite oldie to brighten up the day and bring back memories 🎶
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Pleasant trip to the seaside yesterday. As I expected, going there on a Monday was clever as nobody was around. We were very safe.
Not too much news today, everyone is waiting eagerly for the end of the 2nd week of the de-confinement period here in France to assess the results and possible new measures to be taken.
The daily Dashboard
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France
Occitanie
Data will no longer be published by ARS Occitanie (Agence Regionale de Santé) on a daily basis but only twice a week.
Information & News + Tips
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▶︎ Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel
After weeks of discussions between their teams and numerous videoconferences, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel presented, at a joint press conference in the afternoon of Monday 18 May, the agreement they had reached on a European recovery plan. The plan provides for the Commission to take on debt of €500 billion and to transfer this money to the states, regions and sectors that have been most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
▶︎ The European Commission
is due to present on 27 May in Brussels an economic recovery instrument backed by a borrowing capacity of €1,000 billion to pull the Union out of recession.
Food & Drinks
Nothing new today
Fun
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The daily selection
The dreaded Statistics
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On the official database, the current day’s data is updated approximately every hour and the current day fills up as the figures are announced in each country. More info on: https://coronavirus.politologue.com/
1. International Statistics: Top 13 countries according to the deaths count
Monday May 18th 2020
Sunday May 17th 2020
2. International Statistics: Percentage increase of deaths from one day to the other:
Monday May 18th 2020
3.International Statistics: Cases by country v population (1.000 cases or more only)
4. National Statistics: France follow-up
5. Regional Statistics: Occitanie & Aude
Data will no longer be published by ARS Occitanie (Agence Regionale de Santé) on a daily basis but only twice a week.
As planned and decided yesterday, we went to Port Leucate today for a bit of exercise walking along on the beach. It takes no time at all to get there especially with the lack of traffic.
A few miles before our chosen destination, it is always worth a stop to face the Pond of Leucate and admire the view with the Pyrenees in the background still covered with snow.
The lake is famous, due to the fact it is almost always windy, for surfers and kite surfers. Today was no exception, strong wind and very fast surfers. Driving on the road parallel to the lake, I clocked a couple of surfers at 60kmh on the water. Really impressive.
A few minutes away we arrive at destination, park the car and get on the beach. You look left, you look right and there is simply no one to be seen. The place belongs to us. I should have brought a flag and claim it (which reminds me of a sketch from a well know Brtish comedian Eddie Izzard – Do you have a flag?)
Walked to few miles, even dipped our feet in the crystal clear, not so warm, sea. The place is like a ghost town and at this time of year, it should already be buzzing with holiday makers.
Had a lovely ride home following the so-called “Wine Road” (La route du vin) with its beautiful scenery. I must say, it was good to get out. First time since 2 months when the lockdown started and there was no risk involved, we simply did not see anyone. Aiming for a similar outing towards the end of the week I think.
La vérité d’aujourd’hui n’est pas forcément vraie demain
Day 62 in Carcassonne and the 1st day of the 2nd week of the controlled de-confinement
🎶 A favorite oldie to brighten up the day and bring back memories 🎶
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It has been a lovely Sunday weather wise. I took my old car out for a run around town and the Cité. It felt really good.
Unfortunately there is some news I would rather not hear but since Monday, and the lifting of some of the drastic measures preventing us from travelling, there are 25 news clusters. We knew that these outbreaks would reappear. The more people move around, mix, mix, the more the “chances” of transmitting a virus increase. It’s “mathematical”. And there’s no reason to worry about any other measure. Just to realize that despite the sun, the desire to see friends and family, you still have to respect rules: wash your hands often, wear masks, avoid going out too much (it is forbidden to go more than 100 km from home). With the aim of protecting yourself and others. This number should not increase too much. (Extract from Le Parisien newspaper).
We still intend to go out to the seaside later this morning. I assume quite a lot of people are working on a Monday so we should not encounter crowds.
The daily Dashboard
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France
Occitanie
Data will no longer be published by ARS Occitanie (Agence Regionale de Santé) on a daily basis but only twice a week.
Information & News + Tips
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▶︎ Holiday rental
My friends Christine & Renaud have a lovely holiday cottage available for renting.
It is located in Six Fours Les Plages / Sanary area which is a superb spot on the Mediterranean. Do check the link and if interested at some point, you could contact me and I would pass the message on. You can of course contact them directly.
▶︎ Office du Tourisme
They have a fairly good and new information page on the web all about restaurants & shops which are open for take away or delivery during this de-confinement period. It is only available in French but quite easy to understand.
▶︎ Masks
Carroll sent me this linkwhich is an article writen by a retired surgeon advising of the danger of wearing masks. I did some research on the guy and he certainly has controvertial ideas on many things. Colleagues do not necessarily agree with him. I certainly do not agree either although I am not an expert but having lived in Asia and witnessed that most people wear masks all the time I never heard or read that it could be dangerous as it is claimed. Just read and make your own mind up.
▶︎ Photos from Al
Food & Drinks
Nothing new today
Fun
▼
The daily selection
The dreaded Statistics
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On the official database, the current day’s data is updated approximately every hour and the current day fills up as the figures are announced in each country. More info on: https://coronavirus.politologue.com/
1. International Statistics: Top 13 countries according to the deaths count
Sunday May 17th 2020
Saturday May 16th 2020
2. International Statistics: Percentage increase of deaths from one day to the other:
Sunday May 17th 2020
3.International Statistics: Cases by country v population (1.000 cases or more only)
4. National Statistics: France follow-up
5. Regional Statistics: Occitanie & Aude
Data will no longer be published by ARS Occitanie (Agence Regionale de Santé) on a daily basis but only twice a week.
If you want to spend some time in one of the best spot on this world and next to the sea, my friends Christine & Renaud let out this charming holiday cottage. For more information go to https://lahonde-conseil.com/bastide/index.html
La vérité d’aujourd’hui n’est pas forcément vraie demain
Day 61 in Carcassonne and 7th day of controlled de-confinement
🎶 A favorite oldie to brighten up the day and bring back memories 🎶
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Quite a unexpected sunny day today which will also be the case for the coming week by the looks of it.
I might make it to the seaside tomorrow and hopefully find a take away place where I could get some sea urchins. I shall look on line later today.
I think today is turtle playing time. I’ll take it out in a while.
I am thinking of starting a Q&A page. I receive questions on a regular basis and I have been trying to find the answers. I think some could benefit. I’ll think about a possible format during the day.
The daily Dashboard
▼
France
Occitanie
Data will no longer be published by ARS Occitanie (Agence Regionale de Santé) on a daily basis but only twice a week.
Information & News + Tips
▼
▶︎ Ryanair
Ryanair currently operates around 30 flights a day. It could rise to a thousand daily flights as of 1 July, if European governments lift their restrictions on intra-EU routes. Ryanair’s objective is to return to 40 % of its pre-pandemic flight schedule by giving priority not to a maximum number of flights on high-traffic routes but to a maximum number of destinations, even if this means reducing the number of daily or weekly frequencies on the main routes. Ryanair should thus resume its flights from most of its 80 European bases.
▶︎ Germany from Tagesschau.de
🇩🇪 Lockerungen zu Frankreich
Auch die Grenzkontrollen zu Frankreich werden gelockert: Es dürfen künftig wieder alle Übergänge genutzt werden. Statt systematischer Kontrollen werde es dort nur noch “Stichprobenkontrollen” geben. Zwischen Kehl am Rhein und Frankreich dürfen vor allem Familien, die sich auf beide Rheinseiten verteilen, die Grenzen passieren, teilt die Stadt Kehl auf ihrer Website mit: Unverheiratete Paare ohne gemeinsamen Wohnsitz dürften sich wieder treffen; Familien wichtige Familienfeste wieder gemeinsam feiern oder Angehörige im Altersheim auf der anderen Rheinseite besuchen.
Eine komplette Aufhebung der Reisebeschränkungen zwischen Deutschland, Österreich, der Schweiz und Frankreich soll es laut Bundesinnenministerium am 15. Juni geben. An der Grenze zu Italien bleiben alle Einreisebeschränkungen bis auf Weiteres in Kraft. Das Land selbst hat in der Nacht zum Samstag angekündigt, dass Einreisen nach Italien ab Anfang Juni möglich sein sollen
🇬🇧 Easier crossing from France
Border controls with France will also be relaxed: in future, all crossings may be used again. Instead of systematic controls there will only be “spot checks”. Between Kehl am Rhein and France, especially families spread over both sides of the Rhine will be allowed to cross the border, the city of Kehl announced on its website: Unmarried couples without joint residence may meet again; families may celebrate important family celebrations together again or visit relatives in the old people’s home on the other side of the Rhine.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the travel restrictions between Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France will be completely lifted on 15 June. At the border with Italy, all entry restrictions will remain in force until further notice. The country itself announced in the night to Saturday that entries into Italy should be possible from the beginning of June.
▶︎ Robot dog
🇩🇪 Der Roboterhund „Spot“ patrouilliert in einem Park in Singapur und erinnert Passanten an die Einhaltung der Corona-Maßnahmen. Ausgestattet mit Kameras und Sensoren macht das Gerät auch Ansagen. „Lets keep Singapur healthy“, heißt es da. „Zu ihrer eigenen und der Sicherheit ihrer Mitmenschen: Halten Sie bitte mindestens einen Meter Abstand!“. Das Ziel ist es, weniger Mitarbeiter für die Patrouillen im Park Einsätzen zu müssen.
🇬🇧 The robot dog “Spot” patrols a park in Singapore and reminds passers-by that corona measures must be observed. Equipped with cameras and sensors, the device also makes announcements. “Lets keep Singapore healthy,” it says. “For their own safety and the safety of those around them: please keep a distance of at least one meter. The goal is to reduce the number of staff needed to patrol the park.
Food & Drinks
No new recipe but a guide of the fruits and vegetables on offer in May
Fun
▼
The daily selection
The dreaded Statistics
▼
On the official database, the current day’s data is updated approximately every hour and the current day fills up as the figures are announced in each country. More info on: https://coronavirus.politologue.com/
1. International Statistics: Top 13 countries according to the deaths count
Saturday May 16th 2020
Friday May 15th 2020
2. International Statistics: Percentage increase of deaths from one day to the other:
Saturday May 16th 2020
3.International Statistics: Cases by country v population (1.000 cases or more only)
4. National Statistics: France follow-up
5. Regional Statistics: Occitanie & Aude
Data will no longer be published by ARS Occitanie (Agence Regionale de Santé) on a daily basis but only twice a week.
I saw one of those classic car restauration program a couple of days ago and this one was about a 60’s Chevrolet Corvair and I remembered I was the co-owner of one in 1973 whilst living in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
After weeks of discussions between their teams and numerous videoconferences, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel presented, at a joint press conference in the afternoon of Monday 18 May, the agreement they had reached on a European recovery plan. The plan provides for the Commission to take on debt of €500 billion and to transfer this money to the states, regions and sectors that have been most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
