This last week was lovely but a bit busy and stressful. Work has ramped up with some extra challenges thrown in. I spent a night not sleeping as a result. In addition, there was a forest fire just over the hillside, a mere 7 km away, between Beaumes-de-Venise and Le Barroux. The Mistral was blowing, which made the fire difficult to contain, but thankfully it was blowing away from us.
The other day, after the roads reopened I took a ride around to survey the damage. I went past a friend’s winery and was happy to see the fire hadn’t touched that area. But when I went around the corner and could see the south-facing side of the hillside, it was obvious what the fire had ravaged. While it’s tiny compared to the horrific fires on the west coast of Canada and the US, it’s still frightening. As a result, the forest has been closed to any activity, camping, hiking, running etc.
Hopefully, it will reopen soon, as the highlight of my week is about to happen—Jason arrives tomorrow! He couldn’t come last year because quarantine and other restrictions made a short trip near impossible. We are both extra excited for his return this year. But make no mistake, there are still millions of hoops to go through in this new Covid world.
I was the guinea pig, coming to France first. But because I am officially an EU citizen, my entry was incredibly easy. I couldn’t report how it would be for a foreigner. France has instituted a vaccine passport to attend events, go to bars, restaurants, and museums. Canada on the other hand has been woefully behind in having any decent form of proof of vaccine, rendering our shoddy and unofficial-looking paperwork essentially worthless.
It’s always shocking when French bureaucracy functions effectively, but in this case, it has. They created a system rather quickly for Canadians to submit their details and proof of vaccine to receive a French QR code. I was shocked when I sent my details and received my QR code back in five hours. Five hours! With proof the system works, we sent off Jason’s details shortly after. Then we waited. And waited. Getting anxious, I suggested he send another note mentioning the imminent date of his arrival. Et voilà, a couple of hours later, his QR code arrived. Phew. This means easy entry into the EU and anywhere we need to go here. Canada is pathetically behind the ”old world” on this issue. We often think Europe is a bit old-fashioned or behind the times. But that is entirely wrong. Europe is often at the forefront of medicine, systems, and new ideas. Thank goodness.
I look forward to the upcoming weeks being able to be in this beautiful, favourite place with my most favourite human being. Bienvenue!
