Travelling in France Post-Confinement
in Paris 2020
Confinement (lockdown) in Paris was tough. It had been just shy of 2 months.
When we began to open up in May, wearing masks were still mandatory. Life slowly started to become more normal. That is, we became used to having to wear masks, no longer partaking in the very French bise and drenching our hands in sanitiser.
Due to flight cancellations, I moved to the Marais by Saint Paul. It is a wonderful area, central to everything but extremely expensive and sought after.
After several weeks cooped up inside (mind you, I was living alone in a 4-storey house in Paris with a garden so I cannot exactly complain), I wished to venture back outside see the sights. I thought that it was a great opportunity to finally explore more parts of France itself.
I am aware that back in Australia, especially in Melbourne the thought of travelling during such a time was unthinkable.
However, in France the laws and attitudes differed greatly. The fine for not wearing a mask was only 130 euros for example, versus the $1,600 in Australia.
France had also seen a marked decrease in new cases. This could have been due to the lockdown, better hygiene practices or that the warmer weather was keeping Covid-19 somewhat at bay. The attitude seemed to be trying to "live with it" and go forward with life as best as possible.
I was incredibly grateful not to have been in Australia during this time.
Anyway, I left my belongings in the Marais and I started my domestic travel. My plan was to travel to Toulouse and then move further south along the French Riviera until Menton, which is just before the Italian border.
I was also curious to see if I could find another part of France where I might be interested in moving to. I had Montpellier in mind.
Toulouse- Carcassonne- Montpellier- Nimes- Pont du Gard- Avignon- Aix-en-Provence- Toulon- Antibes- Cannes- Nice- Monaco- Menton- Cassis- Montpellier for the second time and back to Paris.
If you do not know me, I like to be care-free and rather spontaneous so often I would not have booked trains or accommodation in advance. I would see if I liked where I was and stay there. If I saw or was recommended somewhere else, I would work that into my schedule. In fact, I stayed away from Paris for a longer period than I had intended.
I will create separate sections to write about each location.
There were (of course) romantic escapades along the way that I will cover in the "Love" section of the website.
