![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Poster: A snowHead
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davidof wrote: |
For some training we're doing we're having to go to Switzerland this summer as a lot isn't running or going to run in France before 2021. |
The world's gone mad. On the other hand I was talking to a member of the Canadian Snowboard team, who are training here for 15 days, this morning. They're here because they couldn't find anywhere else.
Mask use seems to be pretty well observed in town. I'm going to a lecture on the Ecrins Glaciers this evening. It will be a challenge, 2 hours or so in a mask (as well as for my french ).
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Bergmeister, very true especially as we had a storm It was very interesting although depressing. Showing how many glaciers had disappeared recently and how long the existing ones have left. Worst of all were 2 photos of the Sarenne glacier, 1906 when it was flourishing and 2016 when it had all but disappeared.
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Annecy was busy but not as busy as normal but the beaches were mobbed. We got there early to do the shops as soon as they opened and ate in a place with no other patrons as it was so early. Then just took out a pedalo / paddle boards and used that for access to the lake and gave the beaches a wide berth. Didn't stay for dinner like we would normally.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@davidof, yes those were the photos the guy from the National Park used. He estimated we have 50 years
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Interesting read thanks. We are tentatively hoping for a trip to France mid Sept but will book accommodation last minute to see how things stand.
Looking at the French govt website they are still suggesting a voluntary quarantine for Brits. So half wondered what sort of reception we'd get in bars/restaurants- or are they just desperate for the custom?
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@Dr George, I haven't met anyone voluntarily quarantining yet.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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France is moving towards the idea of a biological passport - you'd need a test before leaving your home country to enter France. The current govt advisors say the country may need to lock down and/or close frontiers in November based on the current "second wave" figures.
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does anyone know if you can get a test in the UK to prove you are C19 free, I know it is worthless as you could get it 2 hours later but if that is what is required then we need the facility to get it & I am guessing it will not be on the NHS so you have to factor that cost into your trip costs.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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David, where did you read about a second wave projections and France locking down in November? The latest I have been reading is that the government is against the idea of a further national lockdown (with local measures preferred) and that there is not a sign of a second wave (le monde, france 24 etc). I do see there is a big increase in cases today however.
I am interested in where November is being talked about within the government press releases as I have not seen anything about that or second wave projections. On Monday, Veran simply said we are 'very far from a second wave' on Franceinfo radio. Perhaps reports have changed this week followimg the increase in numbers? Thanks
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Jonny996 wrote: |
does anyone know if you can get a test in the UK to prove you are C19 free, I know it is worthless as you could get it 2 hours later but if that is what is required then we need the facility to get it & I am guessing it will not be on the NHS so you have to factor that cost into your trip costs. |
Doctorcall in london abd Manchester. £149. Just Google and see what comes up nearer you
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Dr George wrote: |
Interesting read thanks. We are tentatively hoping for a trip to France mid Sept but will book accommodation last minute to see how things stand.
Looking at the French govt website they are still suggesting a voluntary quarantine for Brits. So half wondered what sort of reception we'd get in bars/restaurants- or are they just desperate for the custom? |
I don’t think that has been updated since the UK changed its rules - it mentions reciprocity. We went to France (via Geneva) ten days ago and no mention of quarantine.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) You know it makes sense.
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julietp wrote: |
David, where did you read about a second wave projections and France locking down in November? The latest I have been reading is that the government is against the idea of a further national lockdown (with local measures preferred) and that there is not a sign of a second wave (le monde, france 24 etc). I do see there is a big increase in cases today however.
I am interested in where November is being talked about within the government press releases as I have not seen anything about that or second wave projections. On Monday, Veran simply said we are 'very far from a second wave' on Franceinfo radio. Perhaps reports have changed this week followimg the increase in numbers? Thanks |
nothing official. There is a meeting today in Paris to discuss all this. The second wave projections come from the govt scientific advisors - but they remain projections like those in the UK. The aim of today's meeting is to find ways of avoiding that situation.
No reason to cancel trips etc. but worth being aware that the Covid panic is far from over.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Quote: |
Interesting read thanks. We are tentatively hoping for a trip to France mid Sept but will book accommodation last minute to see how things stand.
Looking at the French govt website they are still suggesting a voluntary quarantine for Brits. So half wondered what sort of reception we'd get in bars/restaurants- or are they just desperate for the custom?
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The reception we have had in bars and restaurants is pretty much normal for us Brits with one exception - no kisses or handshakes on entry. However, there are less people in them than normal (socially distance reduces the number of tables) and no bars open in the late evening.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Poster: A snowHead
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Same here, I was in Les Arcs/BSM last weekend and everyone was being careful and respectful, life is going on as normal as possible. I'm back with the family for 3 weeks in August and can't wait.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I think it's all getting a bit too "normal" here, we've had 1000 new cases over each of the last 2 days, a little worrying..........
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Slightly out of region, I had to do a day trip to just north of Paris for work yesterday and had an hour before driving home walking around the town where we lived a few years ago. All the cafes and restaurants outdoor seating were rammed with very little spacing between them. That being said, all staff had masks on and all seemed to be enforcing masks inside.
The company I visited , all had masks on and also in the hypermarket buying wine and at the services.
I felt that all seamed normal apart from people wearing masks. A lot of Belgian and Dutch number plates on the roads both ways as well.
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The Covid summit has finished in Paris. Nothing too concerning for the moment.
Citizens of 16 countries will need to have a Covid test before travel but none of them are Euro countries bar Serbia
Travel to Spain (catalonia) is not advised at present. The govt is looking to how it can put restrictions in place on the ground.
The rise in infections in old people's homes is alarming. There is a general increase over the last 3 weeks, especially in the 25-45 age group. Probably due to people not taking care and travelling around France a lot. Daily death rate remains low.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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"There is a general increase over the last 3 weeks, especially in the 25-45 age group. Probably due to people not taking care and travelling around France a lot. Daily death rate remains low."
This is the scenario they "want" to play out in the absence of a vaccine.
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Things seem to be pretty relaxed in the Maurienne and also Alpe D’Huez/Borg D’Oisans week before last. Restaurants as normal but staff wearing masks. Speaking to the locals seem to be very few (if any) deaths locally - perhaps less care home concentration than the UK and despite a good few fags, pretty healthy lifestyle in the Alps.
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Mask wearing is now advised at all times outside where there are concentrations of people.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@davidof, contagion theatre
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Normality is certainly returning, une canicule, up to 41°C on Friday. Much more pleasant up here. My girlfriend escaped the heat of Lyon up here at the weekend, it was still 30°C at 9pm when I took her back to Grenoble Station on Sunday evening.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@davidof, concentrations of people or people concentrating? asking for a friend.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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More of a risk than France preventing Brits tourists is UK government introducing quarantine on return. I look at a wide selection of traffic data for ski companies and although it's only been a week the 'V' shaped recovery for ski holidays has come to a halt. Reverse square root symbol recovery, perhaps?
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@iainm, the expression I've heard used widely for the past few weeks has been a "swoosh" shaped recovery (we'd call it a tick, but in America that's a small insect) rather than a V. "Reverse square root symbol" doesn't quite roll off the tongue, nor, I suspect, does it mean much to many of the population!
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) You know it makes sense.
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snowdave wrote: |
@iainm a "swoosh" shaped recovery |
The Nike Recovery.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Things felt pretty normal in France last week. Too "normal" at times. The 1m social distance rule is pretty meaningless-when you see the tape or boxed off areas in a shop, it's about the distance people stand apart anyway. Funny how I realised I had been conditioned to more here in the UK. We didn't eat out in the evenings-sitting indoors in a restaurant felt one step too far. Outdoors at lunchtime felt fine.
On Mr B's birthday we were booked in for lunch at a fancy mountain refuge above Meribel. We arrived and the first seating option offered to us was at the end of a table for 8, where a family of 5 was sitting already! Our reaction was initially just to ask for a table for 2 (it was his lordship's birthday and I had booked 2 weeks ago-so the disappointment at being shoved at the end of someone else's table was less about social distancing and more about disgruntlement that we were being treated as second class citizens).
Only when moved to a far better table with a view, did it occur to me that the waiter had actually completely failed to implement even a 1m distance.
We were in Savoie-were the CV19 count is still very low. Haut Savoie is now on the french watch list. (Geeks might find this link interesting https://www.santepubliquefrance.fr/dossiers/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-chiffres-cles-et-evolution-de-la-covid-19-en-france-et-dans-le-monde ).
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Poster: A snowHead
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The Haute-Savoie has gone onto alert due to a wedding party in Annecy which has resulted in a load of infections and huge effort in contact tracing. It is also why they are asking for masks to be worn at markets in Annecy.
It also answers the question of what happens if you get infected - you basically get put under the control of the regional health authority (ARS) who decide what to do with you.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Masques obligatory in main thoroughfares in Chamonix as of yesterday. I am still skeptical about what good they do in the open air - but there certainly isn't any sort of distancing going on ...
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@under a new name, Would agree with that. Our visits to supermarkets in Evian would suggest that once you put a mask on you are protected with no respect to distancing
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@BergenBergen, there is really little evidence that masks do any good, certainly out of doors. On public transport, well, I can see the point of the precautionary principle, but not walking down the street.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@under a new name, They demonstrate that the Government IS doing something TANGIBLE in the fight against Corona.
Nobody is really expecting anything useful or effective from any government in any country.
They're just hiding behind ineffective acts of "research-driven" policy to buy time until a mass vaccination is possible.
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under a new name wrote: |
@BergenBergen, there is really little evidence that masks do any good, certainly out of doors. On public transport, well, I can see the point of the precautionary principle, but not walking down the street. |
I guess it depends on which research details you read, agreed that transmission outdoors is pretty unlikely, but in enclosed, poorly ventilated situation masks must surely make a difference...
Quote: |
The team placed hamsters that were artificially infected with the disease next to healthy animals. Surgical masks (level 1) were placed between the two cages with air flow travelling from the infected animals to the healthy ones.
The use of masks in such a way, reduced non-contact transmission of the virus by more than 60% whereas two thirds of the healthy hamsters got infected within a week when no masks were used. |
https://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/research-medical-benefits/masks-reduce-covid-19-transmission-between-hamsters/
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Been in Praz for the last 10 days or so... seems very busy indeed. Lakes and beaches are totally packed on sunny days, no social distancing.
Masks worn at all times indoors with gel provided at entrances.
Attempted shopping in Chamonix but gave up very quickly due to the crowds.
Parks and supermarkets very busy too.
We are spending most of our days up the mountains, walking in the quiet fresh air. On the plus side, our DFDS crossing was extremely quiet and we have large sections of deck to ourselves - think they are running at a much reduced capacity. Love being here but worrying about the possibility of quarantine on return to the UK. Might need another glass of Chablis.
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Pretty busy here now. Masks are being closely monitored for skiers and MTBs I believe although I haven't been up. However I noticed yesterday that the queue for the poma used for towing carts up was packed with no masks being worn. Crazy golf was heaving. Walking down the main drag is a drag due to numbers and groups dawdling along taking up the entire pavement or stopping for a chat, tourists Fête des Foins at the weekend attracted a lot of visitors and the main drag was packed for the procession. I haven't been down to the bathing lake/beach, busy I would expect.
Wearing of masks is mandatory on Saturdays, market day, in Bourg d'Oisans now. I think I'll avoid it in August.
I went for quite a big hike on Friday up to Lac de la Muzelle. Quite busy and the refuge was very busy. I expect that this week some of the most popular hikes such as Lac Lauvitel will be heaving.
I'm going down to Pézenas for a few days later this month. I expect it will be pretty busy down there. I'll avoid the Med I think, Agde is close by.
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![](templates/subSilver/images/full_size.gif) You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Claude B wrote: |
Pretty busy here now. Masks are being closely monitored for skiers and MTBs I believe although I haven't been up. However I noticed yesterday that the queue for the poma used for towing carts up was packed with no masks being worn. |
i thought masks were compulsory in queues?
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snowdave wrote: |
we'd call it a tick, but in America that's a small insect |
Arachnids in fact i.e. they have 8 legs to bury in you. The little horrors are common enough in southern England too and some are infected with Lyme disease.
From what I'm reading here, it doesn't seem too surprising that France is heading for a deuxième vague.
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads on Wed 5-08-20 8:28; edited 1 time in total
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