 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
Purely from a selfish point of view, I'm delighted with news of the lockdown. I want to visit France and unless the infection rate goes right down there's no way the UK government are going to let us do that without at least quarantining on the way back. I'm just hoping this, plus getting to 50% of population vaccinated by mid-June will mean August travel will be okay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
@Claude B, @KenX, yes caused a wee debate here too, could have sworn I heard April 5th and OH says April 3rd.
Hopefully, our RV in Gap for CDS April 9th will still go ahead?
Apart from that, little change for us, though obviously would have preferred 20km and not 10km as that rules out Lautaret/Galibier sectors for ski- touring, and I don't think you can drive to go for exercise anyway?
So for ski-touring, we can go in front of us up to the Vallons / Cucumelle / Eychauda etc and hopefully some snow next week.
And then cycling just looked on the map, and as the crow flies it's 4.5km to the Granon, can think of easier rides 
Then there's always up and down the valley 
Interestingly the piste bashers were out here a couple of days ago bashing the snow mounds created by the snow canon and then scraping the snow over the piste, but then they didn't groom it a la corduroy, so it resembles more of a ploughed field?
And @iainm, I honestly don't think it's enough, there should be more restrictions on how many people can meet up etc
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
Does anyone know if that means travel on Monday is ok? Is the public holiday considered part of the weekend?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
@hold_my_biere, yes but it does say it is for people moving to confine elsewhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
| iainm wrote: |
| Purely from a selfish point of view, I'm delighted with news of the lockdown. I want to visit France and unless the infection rate goes right down there's no way the UK government are going to let us do that without at least quarantining on the way back. I'm just hoping this, plus getting to 50% of population vaccinated by mid-June will mean August travel will be okay. |
Me too I’m meant to be climbing Mont Blanc in September and it’s already been moved twice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
@VolklAttivaS5, yeah and you should see the mess they leave when they move it. That's a lot of granite.
Not to mention recalibrating the statues, maps, etc.! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| VolklAttivaS5 wrote: |
| I’m meant to be climbing Mont Blanc in September and it’s already been moved twice. |
Rapid Alpine plate tectonics strikes again. So annoying.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
|
|
|
|
It also makes it much harder to climb if you have to find the sneaky beggar first.
Climber, "Excuse me, are you Mont-Blanc"
Mont-Blanc, for it is she, (coyly) "Who's asking?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
Anyone know how transit journeys by car will be affected, eg from switz to U.K.?
Last time I think there was an attestation that permitted this for transit to country of residence or business reasons
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
Had to go down to the Prefecture in Grenoble today. Was plenty early so wandered round a couple of parks and bought a sandwich to eat there. It's right by the University area, full of students doing the same. Not exactly biding by the rules as you'd expect Hopefully they all had it long ago. Over 2 weeks since I had the first jab too so I'm probably 50% protected at a guess.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
@iainm, surely if Brits are vaccinated we can go anywhere?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| boobleblooble wrote: |
| @iainm, surely if Brits are vaccinated we can go anywhere? |
Not if there are variants floating about, that the current vaccines are not effective against....and the UK won't want these variants being seeded here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
| iainm wrote: |
| Purely from a selfish point of view, I'm delighted with news of the lockdown. I want to visit France and unless the infection rate goes right down there's no way the UK government are going to let us do that without at least quarantining on the way back. I'm just hoping this, plus getting to 50% of population vaccinated by mid-June will mean August travel will be okay. |
I will give you credit for missing the point (ie I’m being generous) but personally I take no pleasure from France going into lockdown as it means the French Government think that my fellow human beings are going to suffer and / or die and lockdown is a tool to reduce that suffering / death in the medium term but not the short term.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
| boobleblooble wrote: |
| @iainm, surely if Brits are vaccinated we can go anywhere? |
I bet Macron will think of a way to ban uk citizens and try to say its the uk’s fault
The granny shagging weasel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
| boobleblooble wrote: |
| @iainm, surely if Brits are vaccinated we can go anywhere? |
Without wishing to put a dampener on your enthusiasm - I'm sure we'd all love to be able to get to France or anywhere else - it's not really about us and how our vaccination programme is going, it's about the countries we'd like to visit. This has been the first winter that I haven't been to slopes since I first skied in 1988 and I've really missed it - retirement (from teaching) in 2019 meant that I was looking forward to being able to travel more outside peak times, and had a couple of weeks of that last year, but missed out on a third when everything went pear-shaped. However, I never seriously considered that there would be any such opportunities this year. At a time when health systems across Europe are under enormous strain, even the possibility that I could add to that, either as a result of the virus or through injury, meant that I considered travelling, even if allowed, to be wholly irresponsible. Looking at it in reverse, would we have welcomed visitors from France or elsewhere (notwithstanding some rather xenophobic viewpoints) when the NHS was overrun with cases? I hope that next winter will be possible, or, extremely optimistically, late summer, but if not, then so be it. The mountains will still be there if/when we get past this - we just need to remain patient.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
If you listen to sensible people such as Professor David Livermore who knows what he's talking about. He'll tell you we shouldn't ban international travel for variants that may not arise or we have developing answers to. Feels like it's being used as a fear baton to drive tourism in the UK. Just another perspective.
Anyway back in topic. Can someone summarise restriction in France are you back to 1km 1 hour of is it more localised?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
@James77,
New semi-confinement in France: What you can and cannot do
What the new lockdown rules that come into force across France on Saturday mean in practice for residents
From the Connexion - you get five free articles
https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/New-semi-confinement-in-France-What-you-can-and-cannot-do-in-the-new-confinement-Macron
This is my "playground" for the next four weeks, way way better than the 1km 1hr - at a push, I can cycle round into Nevache.
My brother who is 73 and lives in the Chartreuse was in his local sub-prefecture town yesterday, La Tour-du-Pin, and noticed a vaccine centre, he went in and asked about it as he has been on a waiting list at a pharmacy and is pretty vulnerable. They took his number and called him back 3hrs hours later and 45mins later he had the jab and is booked in for the 2nd in three weeks time. He said it was very impressive!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Yes I've a wide area too. Some places would take an hour to drive to
Will probably have to legally go down to Grenoble in 3 weeks so a change of scenery will be welcome by then.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recorded new cases in France in the previous 24 hours: 50,659 !!
Love to know how much of all this was down to the holidays which many on here thought was madness that they were allowed to happen and no restrictions on groups etc
That said still seems that there is no actual max number or people that can be together?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Weathercam wrote: |
| Recorded new cases in France in the previous 24 hours: 50,659 !! |
There was a glitch in recording, one of several recently, some of those belong to the day before which was under recorded. Still silly high though 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Weathercam wrote: |
Recorded new cases in France in the previous 24 hours: 50,659 !!
Love to know how much of all this was down to the holidays which many on here thought was madness that they were allowed to happen and no restrictions on groups etc THIS
That said still seems that there is no actual max number or people that can be together? |
(Isn't it 6?)
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
It was certainly stated as 6 at Christmas. Haven't really seen it being stressed though,
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
The Commune have just advised us that the Variant Britannique has arrived here. Will I be a pariah?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balls, we had a week booked in the Vercors in the holiday. Is there any way to do inter-departmental travel at all?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
| JamesHJ wrote: |
| Balls, we had a week booked in the Vercors in the holiday. Is there any way to do inter-departmental travel at all? |
OK, so it seems no... unless "moving your main home". Now there's an idea
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
| Claude B wrote: |
| The Commune have just advised us that the Variant Britannique has arrived here. Will I be a pariah? |
I sincerely hope not. Perhaps you should start wearing a beret and have a string of onions round your neck in an attempt to blend in.....
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
I definitely want to improve my French, so knowing that "variant Anglaise" translates as "the variant which was first characterised in the UK", is very helpful.
Thank you for that @JamesHJ.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
| NickYoung wrote: |
I definitely want to improve my French, so knowing that "variant Anglaise" translates as "the variant which was first characterised in the UK", is very helpful.
Thank you for that @JamesHJ. |
That's what he said on the telly on Thursday, at least the first time he introduced it. No charge.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
| Alastair Pink wrote: |
| Perhaps you should start wearing a beret and have a string of onions round your neck in an attempt to blend in..... |
Don't forget the striped shirt!
But seriously ... when I was a kid we genuinely had a Frenchman (maybe a Breton) on a bicycle come round each year selling onions, and fulfilling all those cliches. My mother always got very excited (I suspect she may have had a thing for Frenchmen) and insisted on trying out her schoolgirl French and buying multiple strings of them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
| Quote: |
But seriously ... when I was a kid we genuinely had a Frenchman (maybe a Breton) on a bicycle come round each year selling onions, and fulfilling all those cliches.
|
Though I never saw it myself. I had heard that since the Breton language was fairly similar to Welsh and Cornish, these Breton onions sellers could operate easily in Wales. This is probably a myth since I've only know one Welshman who can speak Welsh and no one who can speak Breton or Cornish. However, this is what wikipedia has to say on the matter:
| Quote: |
The trade may have begun in 1828 when the first successful trip is said to have been made by Henri Ollivier. From the area around Roscoff in Brittany known as Bro Rosko, Johnnies found a more profitable market in Britain than in France, and typically brought their harvest across the English Channel in July to store in rented barns, returning home in December or January. They could have sold their produce in Paris, but the roads and the railways were bad in the 19th century and going there was a long and difficult trip; crossing the channel was shorter and easier.
As the early Johnnies were all Breton-speakers, Wales was a favoured destination. Breton is a Brythonic language related to Welsh and Cornish, and the Johnnies would have found Welsh a far easier language to learn than English. The Johnnies who regularly visited Wales in the nineteenth century became known as Sioni Winwns and subsequently as Onion Johnnies in English.[1][2]
The golden age for Johnnies across the UK was during the 1920s; in 1929 nearly 1,400 Johnnies imported over 9,000 tonnes of onions to the UK. The Great Depression, followed by the devaluation of the Pound in the early 1930s, ended the era as trade suddenly fell, reaching a low in 1934, when fewer than 400 people imported under 3,000 tonnes.
In the aftermath of World War II, onions in common with other goods were subject to import restrictions, and were obliged to be traded through a single company. By 1973 the number of Johnnies had dropped to 160, trading 1,100 tonnes, and had fallen again to around 20 by the end of the 20th century. The legend of their transporting their produce to Britain inspired farmers in Brittany to set up Brittany Ferries in the 1970s.[citation needed]
Journeys are now made by ferry but small sailing ships and steamers were used previously, and the crossing could be hazardous. Seventy Johnnies died when the steamer SS Hilda sank at Saint-Malo in 1905.[3]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
At the risk of this thread drifting even further off course.
My parents ran a hotel in Scarborough in the early 1960s. I well remember the beret and stripped sweater French onion seller coming around on his bike with onions around his neck to sell his onions to the hoteliers. I understand he was merely the front man and there was a large lorry full of onions parked down the road.
Curiously my parents previously ran a hotel in North Wales, but I was unaware of such salesmen there. On the other hand as my preferred form of transport at the time was a pram so my memories are a little limited.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Quote: |
Though I never saw it myself. I had heard that since the Breton language was fairly similar to Welsh and Cornish, these Breton onions sellers could operate easily in Wales. This is probably a myth
|
No, it's not a myth - my Welsh-speaking grandmother lived next door to us in Cardiff and she could communicate with the "Johnny Onions". I don't think there's a huge similarity in the languages, but they could pass the time of day in a friendly fashion. There are few Welsh speakers in Cardiff, I guess, but then there are fewer Breton-speakers in Brittany, too, and none of them pedals round south Wales peddling onions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
My wife's Grandmother came from North Wales and Welsh was her primary language.
She had a lifelong pen-pal (remember them) from Brittany and the written language is very similar indeed.
She said that the spoken version was really very different, try reading Welsh but in a faux-French accent...all those "Ll's" are quite unalike.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Talking to some people from Grenoble up the mountain. Making the most of their last weekend of freedom. Here today then La Bérarde tomorrow and Monday. Not that many people here though. Shops should close from 7pm but they're waiting on word from the gendarmes atm.
I also heard of a bar and restaurant down in the Veneon Valley which has been operating as usual all the way through. Zero policing or tourists down there so why not.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
