White 2020

	2020... Where to begin... We are living one of the most memorable and, at the same time, least exciting years of our lives. The pandemic seems interminable. We've been ~~stuck~~ safe at home for months on end. It's hard to believe that we are already nearing the end of the year having done so little. We are grateful to be having a relatively easy time of things. Andrew has been working at home since our first lockdown began in mid-March. Having moved to the suburb of Suresnes last summer, we have a small garden and are quite comfortable despite the current circumstances. Even during the current restrictions, we can enjoy a pleasant walk and have all the needed shopping, with adequate pasta and toilet paper, within easy reach. Our hearts go out to those who have suffered illness, lost jobs and social connections, and are struggling with their mental health and isolation.
Before we knew what was ahead, we enjoyed a blissfully sunny two-weeks in South Africa in late January. We landed in Johannesburg and started with a tour of Soweto, the home of Nelson Mandela and ground zero of the apartheid unrest. The impact of apartheid is still apparent and a large proportion of black and coloured people still live in extreme poverty. However, we saw evidence that South Africa is on a good trajectory. There are affirmative hiring laws to increase the opportunities of black, coloured, handicapped people and women and large building projects to replace slums with low-cost housing. We saw many black people in positions of authority working side-by-side with white colleagues. We saw pride in the faces of the black people we interacted with and no sign of the uncomfortable deference towards whites that we have encountered in other places. We rented a car in Joburg and made our way towards Cape Town, with days spent hiking and enjoying the amazing landscapes and natural environment, encountering almost no other tourists, even on vast stretches of pristine beach. As we neared Cape Town, we spent a couple of days in the marvelous little town of Franschoek (the French corner) where we discovered the origins of South Africa's wine industry. French Huguenot refugees fleeing the religious persecution of the late 17th century settled there, bringing life's necessities, their grapevines, et voilà. Franschoek is surrounded by vineyards and has a genius system for visiting them: the wine tram. You choose a route, buy your ticket, and hop on/hop off, sampling wine as you go. No need to drive and the tram operators will even collect and deliver your purchases to town for you. We finished our trip in lovely Cape Town where we enjoyed more hiking, the amazing botanical gardens showcasing the other-worldly plants of the Cape Floral Region (one of the earth's six floral regions) and more world class cuisine, wine and, unexpectedly, gin.


We came home in early February to alarming reports of the developing pandemic and by mid-March, Andrew was working from home and we were in an increasingly strict lockdown. Restaurants and businesses closed, as in many parts of the world, and we were limited to going out for supplies and exercise (1 km, 1 hour) while carrying a written attestation describing our purpose. When restrictions began to ease in June, and we were permitted 50 km, we were delighted to be able to travel a little further afield. After three months, the car battery had barely enough juice to get started and the first time back on the road seemed very strange. Throughout the summer, we enjoyed hiking in the many wooded and rural areas around Paris.

We had summer holiday planned for late August, three weeks rambling around Ireland with Leslie's cousin Sandy & husband Jim, joining us from the U.S. Unfortunately for us, but probably fortunately for Ireland, Ireland, like Canada, has maintained a 14-day quarantine for foreign visitors, so we deferred that trip and looked for another safe destination. Greece. We'd been to Greece before, but there is so much to see. We started on Rhodes where the fortifications of the Knights Hospitallers take you right back in time. When is the next crusade? We hopped over to the lovely city of Thesaloniki, the birthplace of Alexander the Great, which has a wonderful waterfront and excellent museums. Nearby is the ancient city of Pella, a vast archeological site, and the royal tomb of Philip of Macedoni, Alexander's father, with a museum built right into the Great Tumulus. Finally, we moved to Crete, the home of the Minoans, where we enjoyed stays in Rethymno, Chania and Heraklion. Each destination has an interesting and unique history. Greece was a good choice during the pandemic. It was not crowded, with vastly reduced tourism, and eating outdoors is the norm. We rented apartments so that we could easily keep to ourselves as much as possible. We enjoyed walking and hiking, especially the Samaria Gorge and the many archeological sites. There were some limitations such as sections of monuments closed. By the time we left, COVID-19 was on the rise again and we were obligated to wear masks outside, both in Greek urban areas and when we arrived home in France.

So here we are in November, back in a relatively strict lockdown as the cases in France sky-rocketed and the hospitals filled up. We are once again limited to 1 km, 1 hour with an attestation. Fortunately, the measures are working. The effective R has dropped back below 1.0 from a high of 1.4. The daily new cases numbers are dropping. The pressure on the hospitals is going down. We expect the restrictions to stay in place until at least December 1 when there might be some moderate loosening before Christmas. However, we will be heading to Canada on December 4 to spend Christmas with most of our kids. We will take an AirBnB in Kingston where Andrew can continue to work during our quarantine period. Lauren & Collin live nearby so can bring us supplies. Meghan & David will travel down from Montréal and Gosaye will come from Ottawa. Other than day trips to visit Leslie's dad in Ottawa and Andrew's mum in Oakville (they are both fine), immediately after our quarantine when we should be safe, and then the kids, we plan on seeing no one. Now is not the time.

And speaking of the kids... Meghan and David are working from home in Montréal, she for Keywords Studios testing software, and he in the IT department of Cerence, an in-car voice/AI development company. They are very glad to have moved into a much nicer apartment in 2019. Gosaye continues at the PepsiCo warehouse in Ottawa where he has worked his way to full-time. We are very happy to see him in secure, steady work which has allowed him to upgrade his living conditions to a comfortable apartment. He has otherwise kept himself busy developing his proficiency on various musical instruments. Biniyam continues as a DJ at Outlaws country rock bar in Saskatoon. They were shut down for awhile, then allowed to re-open with reduced capacity and no dancing, and sadly have just had to shut down again. Saskatoon is currently experience a COVID-19 outbreak (as is much of Canada) so Biniyam has decided that travelling for Christmas is unwise. We will miss him. Lauren and Collin are both students at Queens in Kingston. Lauren is in the second year of her masters in occupational therapy, a program that has been much disrupted by the pandemic, while Collin has begun his Ph.D. in philosphy. Lauren was very isolated during the first wave lockdown, so has been relieved to have Collin move to join her in Kingston after graduating from his masters program at York University in Toronto.
We wish you all the best as this year draws to a close. We hope you and your loved ones are well, safe and secure. We hope that 2021 brings vaccines, an end to the pandemic and a resumption of our normal lives, perhaps with a greater appreciation of the people and things that we have been missing. We have optimistically rebooked our Irish adventure for June.