Condolences to France

From the weather forecast, I thought I would be hastily putting my washing out to dry. I’ve not done so yet. The morning is grey & very very still. As for the soaring temperatures, I’m still most definitely in my woolly jumper!

Over the last few days I’ve looked at the statistics provided on this blog. Let me say I don’t get info about who you are specifically, just what nations you are in & which browsers you use. I seem to have gained a considerable number of French readers lately. It’s to them I wish to address this next bit.

It was with shock I got up of Friday to hear of the terrible events of the night before in Nice. My heart goes out to you all, especially to any that may have suffered losses or injury as a result of the events. It will not put us off visiting France later this year It wouldn’t have done even if we’d been going to the Riviera.

Some aspects of the event particularly upset us. How any person could deliberately drive into people, especially children, and then keep on going after the first bump or two is beyond me.

Nice is a place I associate with relaxation & pleasure. I appreciate for those who live there it is a place of work too. Somehow the horror seems all the worse for the fact people ought to be relaxing in the sun, by the azure waters of the Med, feeling safe, not having to be on guard all the time.

I suppose, too, I’m aware how important a day Bastille Day, July 14^th is in the French calendar. For those families who have lost people or otherwise had their lives wrecked by the recent events, it will be a date impossible to forget. At least for foreign tourists the date won’t have that added significance.

I’m aware of how many of our friends seem to have lost loved ones at Christmas or New Year & now the scars remain as those dates are unforgettable. As it is, although I can’t remember the exact date my mother died, I still remember it was the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May. And she died nearly 40 years ago. As for the Fox, he can never forget his mother as the bongs go for the 2 minute silence on Remembrance Day, November 11^th, as they did when we stepped out of the registry office having just registered her death.

No, France seems to have suffered so much with the Charlie Hibdo shootings in January 2015, the bombings & shootings in Paris in November 2015, & now this outrage. I hope the end will come soon. Meanwhile we will continue to think of you, & visit you.