Le Fort

We started the day by going shopping. Not very exciting but useful and if you have a list it's organised and quick. It was rather mild so wearing the mask is getting itchy and warm, but better a mask than getting sick...

After lunch we went to the library and swapped some CDs, DVDs and Asterix BDs. The extra is a political cartoon just outside the library in town, and shows what some of the youth of France think. They clearly think the Germans are winning the race, that Macron is playing catch up and Boris has fallen flat on his face... To be honest there was quite a lot of anti-Boris and anti-Trump imagery, both were are seen equally as dangerous idiots...

Vaccination wise, the real picture is quite complicated. France has so far fully vaccinated 1.13 million people about twice the UK figure, with Germany on 1.69 million. On this metric the UK is way behind its European peers. Looking at percentages it's a similar picture though with a larger population Germany isn't as far a head, and again the UK is bottom. If you look at the figures for people that have had a single injection, which provides some protection then the figures look quite different, the UK is clearly winning on that front with 25% of the population vaccinated, and then the other big European countries are all on the same at just under 4%.

The two RNA vaccines don't want a large gap between the two injections, but it seems that the much cheaper and easier to use AZ vaccine while not quite as effective, actually works better with a larger gap between injections. If this turns out to be the case, then the policy in the UK, given the far worse infection rates there may turn out to have been a gamble worth trying.... Because the AZ vaccine hasn't yet been licenced for over 65s in France when it does become available it should be easier to get for the under 65s as a result.

After the library we went to beach and walked along it and then through town. It's the start of the holidays here in France and as it was actually a nice if windy day, the beach was quite full of people, though from the main picture I managed to get a  shot of the fort without too many people in shot. Most people were wearing the masks and the local police were out making sure the shops were policing the numbers and mask regulations properly. The only real rule breakers were the smokers and eaters - as neither of those is very practical with a mask on...

After dinner we watched the finale of Death in Paradise season 10. I think the current DI is now quite good, as they've got rid of his annoying affectations, and he's almost as good as the original DI Poole. He plays the role as a fish out of water character and I think it works well. The previous DI was okay too, but very different, but I could never get on with the second DI and they are the only episodes I wouldn't bother to watch again and again.