Lily of the Valley for luck and yes we are getting better - Covid 19 Update May 1

 

Today, May 1st is a national holiday in France with a lovely tradition! We offer the "Muguet" Lily of the Valley to our friends and family to wish them good luck. The tradition dates back to the days of King Charles the IX where he was the recipient of a sprig of the Muguet on May 1st 1561. 

Liking the idea, and with all things French the King saw the romance behind it and proceeded to present a bouquet of Lily's of the valley to each of the ladies of his court. And thus began the Fête du Muguet, or Fête du travail.

I offer one to all of you.

Covid 19 where are we at?

As of today we are unaware of when travel restrictions world wide will be eased. We wish we knew and could offer you more news. We know some of you have been offered flight vouchers, so please let us know if you are trying to rebook and do not see dates or tours you are looking for on our website. Hotels continue to maintain our reservations for late summer/fall and have provided credits for the earlier months.

What we do know? We are getting better.

On May 7th, each department in France will be given a colour - Green or Red. If you are green, deconfinement measures will start a few days later on May 11th. 

Below is the map published yesterday of the current colours based on the areas where there is active cases of the virus. The orange that you see is areas where numbers are declining but there is no decision as of yet of what colour they will be May 7th.  Each week from May 11th the regions' will be reviewed for changes.  

 

This however is only one map - the final map will take into consideration a second criteria. 

Has each regions health services adequately recovered enough capacity to deal with deconfinement? It is this criteria that is needed to be able to reopen our country completely and safely.  Early indicators are that the north east may initially be red as they were the hardest hit.

What does green mean?

On May 11th, if we are green we will be able to ride our bikes in groups of 10 !!! Travel within100km of our homes and many services and businesses will reopen.  We have had a few of our wineries advise they can also open for small tasting sessions and workshops which is great news for some of the smaller vineyards we support.  We now just need you to all come with us!!!   

Bars, restaurants and hotels will need to wait until the end of May for any news on reopening. The idea is to monitor the progress of the deconfinement to ensure the country is ready to proceed to the next step. 

We continue to monitor the situation and sincerely hope we can ride together this year. Please stay safe!

The FCH team