It was one year ago today that France went into lockdown. Steven and I had arrived at the aire in Sens the day before, having raced from Spain. We were feeling a little scared and very far from home and our family. We had no idea what was going to happen in the world with this new virus, yet we somehow felt safe in our new spot.
Our little aire had all the services we needed, although none was very convenient. To keep from moving Bijou every other day, we hauled fresh water in a container and carried grey water by the bucket. We carried our toilet cassette nearly half a kilometer round trip every day to keep it empty. Of course, when I say “we”, I mean Steven. Somehow, the chores kept him grounded and he developed a daily routine.
The Lidl grocery store across the street was perfect for food shopping and the farm animals across the river kept us entertained. We did our laundry by hand and along the way acquired a laundry pole, our beloved Roman Polanksi. His massive size was a game-changer in our laundry routine and we really appreciated having him. Alas, he was much too large to take with us as we traveled, so we left him behind in the aire and hoped he would be useful to others.
We stayed in the Sens aire for 89 days before resuming our travels in mid-June. By that time we felt like homesteaders. We had the place mostly to ourselves, so when someone did arrive we felt like we were being invaded! The one exception to that was Jean-Marc, a recently widowed elderly French gentleman who also hunkered down in the aire. Unfortunately, he was carted off in an ambulance one day following a heart attack, causing him to fall and sustain a serious injury. We tried to find out his status, but to this day, we have no idea how he fared.
Well, here it is one year later and guess where we are? Yep, back to our safe haven. After six weeks bouncing around France, we decided to return to Sens to see what we can do about getting a vaccine. While we’re here, we will also get a few things done for Bijou. There is nothing she needs that would keep us from traveling, but since we’re here, we might as well do a few things. Oh yeah, and guess who is still here, exactly where we left him? Yep, it’s Roman, standing tall! The bungee cords Steven used to lash him to the post have been replaced with some hearty wire. Seems Roman got a bit of love from a camper, or the maintenance crew. This makes us very happy.
The vaccine rollout in the EU is pitiful, what with the bureaucracy, in-fighting and shortage of product. At least that’s what we’re reading. All of this is made worse by various governments pulling the AstraZeneca vax. In any case, there is nothing we can do about it except try and follow the rules and see what happens. As we understand it, in our age group we qualify only if we have a comorbidity. For Steven and me, high blood pressure is a qualifying issue. In order to get the vax, we first must visit our GP and get a prescription. Thing is, we don’t have a GP. So we signed up online for an appointment using Doctolib, a website that lists available physicians and appointment times. We found one near Sens who supposedly speaks English and scheduled our appointments for next Thursday, the 25th.
Secondly, using the same website, we needed to go online and search for a vax facility that has both the product and an available slot. These are hard to come by and require constant vigilance. Once a slot becomes available, it must be pounced on immediately. After making our doctor’s appointment, we came across a few available slots at a hospital nearly two and a half hours from Sens, and we nabbed two of them! We actually had a choice of vaccine, and we chose Pfizer. We were also able to schedule our second vax appointment for April 20th.
No sooner had we completed the cumbersome appointment scheduling, when Steven came across a new article that said non-residents of France are not allowed to get the vaccine. This set off a whole other flurry of activity as we sought to confirm this confounding news. For every article we found that said we could get the vax, we found another that said we couldn’t. Finally I went online to the American Embassy in Paris website and there it was – confirmation that the French Health Minister had announced that yes, non-residents can get the vaccine. In addition, the Embassy provided a letter in both English and French that we can download and present at the facility, if necessary, that included links to the minister’s announcement.
Needless to say it’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster and even now we’re not entirely optimistic that we’ll actually get vaccinated. The doctor could decide we don’t qualify and refuse to give us the necessary prescription. The hospital could cancel our appointment if the anticipated products don’t arrive, or are re-routed elsewhere. This is apparently not uncommon. All we can do is wait and see. Wish us luck!
UP NEXT: Our trip though the Dordogne
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We are sending you all the good vaccine vibes that we can find, Linda and Steven! You might be surprised the giddy/emotional response you get after that first dose. It was like we had been set free, even though we still have a ways to go (2nd dose plus 14 days). Hang in there!
Thanks for the V-vibes! We can use all the help we can get! We are eager to get the vax not only for health reasons (although that is the main reason) but also it is our ticket to roll. Proof of the vax opens borders and that is important to us! So happy you and Diana are well on your way to being fully vax’d!
Glad to hear that Monsieur Polanski was still firmly at his post with welcoming outstretched arms. Seems like the vaccine distribution in US is progressing somewhat well. We hit our 1sts and get the 2s at end of month. I think there’s an ocean of political cya going on with this process but at least it looks like the re-opening is here. Are you guys in another form of lockdown? I thought summer was going to be open? Tough to have Polanski as your sole source of entertainment. Happy sSt Paddy’s day to ya. We put orange and green lights on the house last night. It’s good to be a red neck from time to time🤓.
Stay safe/sane.
Hiya, Dave! We are currently not in a full lockdown, although many, many businesses are closed and there is a 6 p.m. curfew. We do have freedom of movement, but decided the vaccine was important to our future travels this summer. And yeah, long live Roman! 🙂
I get my second Pfizer shot on Saturday! It’s such a relief. Fingers crossed everything goes as planned.
Now it’s my turn to be jealous! So happy things are looking up for vaccine availability in the U.S. and glad you have gotten yours! I’m sure it is a huge relief!
Hey — because we’re older’n dirt (almost), my hubby and I qualified for our Pfizer shots, and we got both #1 and #2 in February. We also have the little “I got vaccinated” card which we’ll carry with us. My main reason for the vaccination was so we could travel, as I think proof will be required wherever we go. Wishing you good luck in all of the above!
So glad you have gotten your vaccines! Things sure turned around in the states and I am happy about that! There are some countries here that drop quarantine requirements if you can show you’ve had the vaccine, so for us, having it is well worth it from a travel point of view. And of course the main reason to get it is protection from the virus! Fingers crossed!
My adult children and I have been vaccinated with Pfizer…both shots but still wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands. I read Italy is locking down again because of rise in covid virus and deaths. I hope France doesn’t follow suit…praying for countries experiencing increase in infections. Our numbers have declined but with soft opening of restaurants, bars, and entertainment centers and with some refusing to wear a mask our numbers may increase also. Cross my fingers all goes well with your vaccinations.
Europe is experiencing a third wave and it is quite crippling in some areas. France remains wishy-washy. One day they hint at a hard lockdown, the next they are outlining the opening of the country. It’s difficult to know for sure where things are headed. But right now, it’s not looking good. Thanks for your good vax-vibes, and good on ya for getting yours!
Fingers crossed! Hoping all goes well and that you get the vaccine. Chris and I got our first dose of Pfizer last week-end.
I’m so happy to hear you and Chris have started on your vaccines! We’ll let you know how it goes for us!
Hang in there Cuz. Sounds like all the folks in Abilene are vaccinated.
Yes, thank goodness Mom and Dad got both their vaccines! I’m sure M&AB did, too. Not so sure about Shanny, though. Hope you guys have yours, too!
Hope all goes as planed for your shots . I’m scheduled for my second Pfizer Saturday the 20th. I had no effects from the first and hoping the same with the next one. Maybe the summer will turn out some what normal . Sounds like we will still have to be careful and wear mask , Time will tell . Take care . Vern in Boise Id.
We were just talking about you the other day, Vern! Wondering how you are doing through this pandemic. So happy you’ve had your first vax and that the second one is just a couple of days away! With any luck at all, we’ll join the crowd and get our vaccines! If so, our summer travels may happen after all! Fingers crossed!
Glad the pike is still there. Good luck with the Vax! We got the J&J in AZ last week.
Lucky you! As far as I know, J&J isn’t available yet in the EU. They relied heavily on AstraZeneca and now look. Ugh.
We sure hope you guys can get your vaccines. Here in Florida, we still don’t have ours because although we’ve been stranded here for more than a year, we don’t have residency yet. 😡 Ah well…life goes on pretty much as normal for us. The only place we go indoors is to the Piggly Wiggly, and I double mask.
That is so great that Roman was waiting for you at the campground! It must have felt like greeting an old friend.
Being a resident is everything! That’s part of our issue, too. We’re not in the health system, we don’t have a doctor, or a health card. All that missing information throws the system into a tizzy! I hope they accept our info, if not, it’s game over for us, or maybe we’ll go to Germany. And yeah, how about that sturdy Roman??!
What a year! Good luck to you. We get our second Moderna in 2 weeks. We headed back to camp hosting in Oregon and it is working out even though Coos County is in the severe stage….
I guess Oregon doesn’t mind that you aren’t a resident? That’s great that you can get the vax, especially camp hosting!
I’ve told the Roman story more than once (our life is so much more boring these days) and am delighted there is a new chapter to add! Hard to believe that was so long ago when it seems like yesterday. Nice to have a place that feels like coming home 🙂 I was feeling the same way about getting my vaccine after Bill got his first shot, like I was never going to find an appointment, and they weren’t going to accept my documentation because Cochise County requires residency (other AZ counties don’t), and if I got the first I wouldn’t be able to get the second before we left, and, and……Alas I kept checking daily and grabbed an appointment for the single dose! And of course when the day came they didn’t even ask for ID – just confirmed I had the appointment and 15 minutes I was on my way. So hang in there, you’ll get ’em done and life will be grand again :-)))))
Oh, so happy you and Bill managed to get jabs! And the J&J, one and done! How wonderful! It is not here yet, but may be soon. If we don’t get our Pfizer as planned, we may just hang back and wait for the J&J. We will see how it goes. I am so proud of Roman and his toughness. He’s a keeper, I only wish we could. You want I should send him to you? 🙂 Can’t wait for your big wheels to get rolling!
I absolutely love your posts and the pictures are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you so much, Donna. We appreciate your comment and happy to know you’re still following along on our travels, such as they are at the moment. 🙂 Stay safe!