Day 2036 (Tuesday) 27th October 2020

I’m happy to say that it was lovely and sunny again this morning and I woke up with Badger on my pillow. I had to leave a bit earlier this morning because I had to buy my weekly ticket because we missed the opening hours in Beaulieu yesterday. The Villefranche ticket office is only open on Tuesdays and a few years ago this would have wound me up but these days I just do the Gaelic shrug and accept these lovely French strange ways. I took cash as well in case it wasn’t open but gladly it was. The man from Beaulieu station was there he was pleased to see that I had got my Zou card and told me how much money I can save if I use it properly. We started the conversation in French but when it got really complicated we switched to English. He asked me where I was born and when I said Wales he told me that he loved Bonnie Tyler; of all the people from Wales who have done good it had to be her. He was impressed when I told him that I’d seen her many times when I was young because she owned a number of nightclubs in Swansea and she used to swan around them posing – nobody liked her.

I was early for school so I sat in the sun on a wall outside and enjoyed my crispy lamb sandwiches, leftovers from last night.

My first student of the day was a very quiet boy of 11 who was super polite but very shy. I’m working with him three days this week so that should be OK. There is a small dog that comes into the school with his owner but it stays in the other office. Today we had another furry visitor who ran around the building all day. He stopped and posed for this photo before running off again.

 

I did some prep while waiting for the next two kids (I told you there were far too many kids this week). These were the same kids from yesterday, the ones I worked with before lockdown, and it’s amazing how much nicer they are now – I think they’ve grown up considerably. They really joined in with all the activities and put their hands up to answer my questions and they got quite competitive. At the end of the class we played Pictionary to revise the new vocabulary we had covered. It was three o’clock and my next student was due but they begged for two more rounds of Pictionary. We have to wipe down all surfaces used after each class because of Covid so I really had to rush to get the room ready. Luckily the next student was a bit late so I was able to take a short break on the balcony. Valeria had to leave a bit earlier than usual at 4.45 and I was secretly pleased because this meant that I could catch the earlier magic train that only stops in Beaulieu before Villefranche. The final destination of this train is Les Arcs Draguignan and when I have more time I’d like to do some research on this town as it’s not far away and it’s somewhere we haven’t been yet. I Googled it and found this…

Nice to Les Arcs—Draguignan by train

It takes an average of 1h 20m to travel from Nice to Les Arcs—Draguignan by train, over a distance of around 43 miles (69 km). There are normally 20 trains per day travelling from Nice to Les Arcs—Draguignan and tickets for this journey start from £9.53 when you book in advance.

… but I didn’t have time to investigate further as I was starving and Huw had made a daube for dinner.

When I got off the train I was quite mesmerised but the beautiful pink sky

Even though it’s still warm and sunny during the day the evenings are getting pretty cold and tonight there was nobody in the restaurants along the seafront and this new law isn’t going to help…

France to outlaw heaters on café terraces in new package of green measures

President Emmanuel Macron has pledged bold action for tackling climate change, saying they will be at the heart of the economic stimulus plan for recovering from the COVID-19 crisis.

But Macron has been stung by accusations that businesses and poorer households often end up bearing the brunt of the costs for his green ambitions.

After the "yellow vest" anti-government protests last year he set up a Citizen's Convention on Climate, whose 150 randomly picked members announced dozens of proposals last month, including the ban on heating outdoor seating areas.

Owners turned to them en masse when France extended its indoor smoking ban to restaurants and bars in 2008, to the dismay of environmental activists who railed against  a

Wasteful use of electricity or natural gas.

While a handful of French cities have already banned heated terraces, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has refused, saying businesses stand to lose a huge chunk of their revenues.

"People now understand that we are at risk and that, if we don't do anything, we'll have an ecological crisis after this health crisis," Macron's new Environment Minister Barbara Pompili told French daily Le Monde on Monday.

Among other measures to be introduced by decree in the coming months, building owners will be encouraged to improve insulation, and will be prohibited from installing coal or fuel oil furnaces.

New limits on development will also be rolled out to limit the "concreting" of natural areas, though the government held back on an outright ban of new shopping malls outside cities, long demanded by green activists.

The measures, which came after a meeting of Macron's environmental defence council of top ministers on Monday, got a lukewarm response from environmental groups.

Clement Senechal of Greenpeace France said they "push back any real change until 2023, after the end of Macron's term."