Locked down, but not locked in

Well - France has finally responded to the corona virus (more properly, SARS-CoV-2), with closure of all restaurants, cafes, bars, schools, and "non-essential" businesses. Prime minister Macron will address the nation tonight at 8PM, and it is expected that measures to mitigate the spread of the virus will be tightened.

Meanwhile: we still had the car that we rented last Friday. We called Enterprise and discovered that there would be no issue with us retaining the car through Thursday morning - so we will. This enabled us to spend the day hiking and visiting nearby ports on the west coast of the Cherbourg peninsula.

Regarding the virus, we figured:

• If one of us has it, the other does, or soon will, too, so there's no point distancing from each other.
• Travel by car isn't going to aid transmission in either direction.
• Walking in essentially deserted areas won't hurt anything, either.

The most potentially dangerous thing we did today was visit the downtown Carrefour first thing in the morning to stock up on basics (pasta, UHT milk, coffee, TP, tissues, etc.). It was not very crowded, and people seemed to be making an effort to remain at a distance from each other. There were lines taped on the floor at the checkout counters to remind shoppers not to crowd together while in line. It was all very orderly, and we felt much better once we were sure we had essentials for at least 2 weeks.

SO - into the car, and off to the west coast.

Our first stop was the south side of Cap Le Rozel, which has a spectacular beach. We walked the beach and then hiked on paths on the bluff above, and south of, the beach. The weather was spectacular -- an almost cloudless blue sky, warm sun, and very little wind - nothing like the weather we have come to expect from Cherbourg.

The beach at Cap Le Rozel, from the southern bluffs

From there we drove slowly northward, stopping to walk whenever the opportunity presented itself, such as at this B and B in Le Rozel.

North of Le Rozel we found trails that curve around steep bluffs, with the Atlantic crashing onto the rocks below for accompaniment.

Our final stop was the harbor at Diélette. I may be able to add pictures from Katy's camera at a later date.

France is beautiful. Spring is arriving, and hopefully it won't be entirely spoiled by disease.