I am looking forward to reading your adventures in the Gard .. you two have a lot of catch up on 😉.

The journey went well, the Champagne on BA plane was very welcome and all documentation was fine - I’d worried a bit in case it wasn’t all present and correct.

it’s lovely to be back in our home after so long a gap. After starting with a little cleaning - 22 months of dust moved about by the VMC! we wandered up the road to town and enjoyed a drink at friends’ café-restaurant and a lovely welcome.

However, when we returned to the apartment I looked at my phone and found a message from the NHS to say that I’d been in contact on 16th October who has since tested positive to Covid. That had to be when we took my brother to a pub near him that Saturday for lunch - the only place we’ve been near anyone indoors since Covid arrived, other than in hospitals, although the pub is one huge, airy room. We sat at the next table to a young couple and turned towards them for a chat for a few minutes; my husband's seat was a little further from the couple and hasn’t had a message from the NHS.

I’m particularly concerned about my brother, who’s nearly 89 and in poor health, although he’s had 2 jabs, he hasn’t yet been offered the booster. I very strongly hope that I haven’t got Covid and infected people I was near on the journey on the plane or train and the friend who picked us up at Avignon station; all 3 of us wore masks and had opened some of the car windows.

Some of the gilt has been taken from the gingerbread of arrival.

Thank you, WB. My brother wouldn’t cope with testing himself, couldn't get as far as the pharmacy/GP practice, but my niece would happily get tests for him and carry them out. I’m still concerned about him, but not as much as last evening.

Things have moved on from yesterday’s doom and gloom. I took a rapid flow test, got to the pack way down in one of the cases; I brought a box of seven to use a few days after our flight/train journey. It was negative.

Also I asked our friend who drove us home from Avignon to call in at the pharmacy to ask about regulations following contact here. He said that she didn’t need a test or to self-isolate as she was double-vaccinated; exactly the same for me who’d been ‘pinged’ and had been triple-vaccinated. She then said about being together in the car, but were all masked, with windows open; he was apparently slightly amused at the thought of the precautions and kept repeating ‘good, good’ with a big smile.  

so it seems that all is well in either country and I’ll go about shopping etc masked as usual, but prefer not to spend more than a couple of minutes with friends unless outdoors for the next week or so.

I'm glad you made it to France ok and hope that covid doesn't rear it's ugly head.