Coronavirus and the French Riviera

Well, as of early Saturday night some not so unexpected news came in quickly from the Government of France about the next steps that would be taken to try and contain the Coronavirus. 

The first message was that starting immediately any restaurants, bars and nightclubs along with other places people usually gather would have to close by midnight. 

About an hour later it was stated that further restrictions would come into effect. Starting Sunday all shops and services would close for the foreseen future with only supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations and tabacs deemed essential being open on a regular basis. 

This really wasn’t that much of a surprise as President Macron in his speech only a few days before declared that schools and universities would be closed as of March 16, 2020. 

Needless to say, this has been a very odd time in not only France but around the world as we all grapple with what has been going on.

With the new changes implemented, we were curious how the city of Nice was reacting. In walking around, to be honest, life seemed as normal, in fact it felt much like years ago when shops were regularly closed on Sundays.

People seemed to be enjoying life as normal as possible, sitting at the beach, watching the waves or on benches in parks under the clear, sunny blue skies taking in the surroundings.

We walked by a number of grocery shops, there was no lineups, the checkouts had a normal amount of people buying products. Before finishing our stroll in the city, we went into one of the larger grocery chains to find again, an average amount of people doing a regular shop and the shelves looked stocked and again...at noon, no panic at the checkouts.

Obviously things can change but what we have already noticed online is businesses and groups of individuals are coming together to help support each other in the various communities in France. Very heart warming.

We are feeling positive that through this tricky time, things will eventually pass and we have a number of creative plans in the works not only for our luxury businesses but since we have already developed a shared economy for the past number of years in France, we want everyone to benefit from the natural rewards of the country.

One of those smaller plans is to keep promoting all that France has to offer, this was actually upon the suggestions of our regular clients and followers who have told us that our posts on social media have been inspiring and lifting their spirits, it is even more so now a pleasure for us to do.

The LGBTQ community is strong here in France and so is everyone else seemingly working together as one.

If you ever have any questions about the situation here in France, feel free to connect with us.