Return to Blighty and the sound of the last post

It was pretty obvious that the French were taking little notice of the advice not to socialise so it came as no great surprise when we saw the news that Macron had announced a complete lockdown from midday on 17th March. Anyone wanting to leave the house for any reason, even if just to walk the dog, had to complete an online form and print it out. Luckily they were happy to allow a handwritten transcription so Neri copied one out for each of us. We had spent the night in Belleville, just north of Lyon and we found a nice walk around a local lake to give the spaniels some fresh air. I went into the local Intermarché to get some groceries where they were limiting the number of people who could be inside at any one time. Then it was back on the autoroute again. 

Can't travel without this

It was quite an eerie experience at midday, when the new restrictions kicked in. Suddenly the number of cars on the road dropped by about 80% leaving just trucks, and a steady stream of British and German motorhomes all heading north. We spent our final night in France in the beautiful village of Trépail, south of Reims, where the commune had provided a lovely motorhome stopover. The next morning saw us wandering along the paths through the vineyards which were a hive of activity as workers prepared for the first buds to emerge. It was the sort of place where we would normally have spent a couple of days visiting the local champagne shops and restaurants but they were all closed.

A misty morning in Champagne

We skirted Reims on the way north and decided to pull in to the LeClerc hypermarket in Arras to take advantage of the low wine prices. It was a bizarre experience. The car park was deserted, and there were no more than 20 people in the entire store. The cashiers on the two tills that were open were wearing strange yellow helmets with drop-down plastic visors, much like those worn by welders. In contrast to the stories of panic buying and empty shelves we had seen on UK news websites, all the shelves in LeClerc were full, including the toilet rolls. 

Have to get used to this again

Neri's decision to copy the movement permission form proved to be a wise one. As we approached the toll booths to get back on the autoroute we were flagged down by two gendarmes who carefully read both our forms before allowing us to proceed.The rest of the journey to Calais passed without incident and, having had the routine check on the spaniels' Pet Passports, we drove onto the train. It was a little strange to be driving on the left after eight months of being on the other side of the road but we made it safely to my brother-in-law just outside Sevenoaks.

Our plan had been to stay there for a few days and then see if we could find a campsite that would allow us to remain until our tenants leave our house in August. A site near Clitheroe offered us a good deal and it meant we would be a few miles from home and in our own NHS area. This morning we were preparing to leave when we had an e mail from the site, telling us they felt they had to shut down. It looks as if we are going to be in Kent for the duration and fully expect a full lockdown at any moment.. 

It's a strange and abrupt end to our trip. We are consoling ourselves by looking back on the amazing eight months we enjoyed, the places we saw and the people we met. At the moment we feel a little like nomads in our own land.