Surviving the Pandemic and Our Lockout from France

French Lockdown and Lockout from France

At the time of writing this blog post we are almost about to say 'bonjour' to the month of February and I can't help thinking how my life has changed over the last twelve months.  I am sure your life has changed dramatically also. While we all deal with our different situations I really believe it is not a time to judge others and what they are struggling with or missing from their life pre-Covid. 

I'll share with you what I am struggling with at the moment and how I am keeping positive and busy while I'm in lockout from France.

While I am not grieving the loss of any beloved person, and don't draw comparison to my situation to that of others suffering great loss, I am still saddened by the loss of what was normal in our life. 

Residing with my husband Paul, and sons Thomas and Anthony, at our French home, playing a rowdy game of pétanque with friends, filling my basket with fresh fruit and cheese at our Guingamp weekly market, and taking short road trips to explore nearby regions has been a way of life for over 10 years and to have that part of my life wrenched away due to the Covid-19 pandemic sometimes makes me feel sad. 

Like I said, I am very, very grateful that I am not grieving the loss of family or friends due to the virus, I am grateful that the financial effects of trading with overseas business partners has been less than it could be for my husband's business,  but in all honestly, I am still missing the life I had living between the two continents and I continually worry about my little country home that I am unable to check on.

So I've found a few ways to keep positive and to keep looking forward even though all my tours to Paris, Normandy and Brittany have been postponed for 2020 and 2021, and I am unsure when my lockout from France will be lifted by the Australian Government. 

A Special Interest or Hobby

Having a hobby or interest that you are passionate about is a great way to stay focused when times get tough. Researching, writing about and sharing your passion with others brings a lot of joy and so I am continuing to do that via my blog and social channels like Facebook and Instagram.

Knowing that I am helping others by sharing happy photos of France and articles on picturesque French villages and famous French personalities also keeps me positive.  

Creating My Beautiful French Collection Luxury Gift Boxes

Curating, sourcing products and assembling our luxury French gift boxes to the brim with French goodies also keeps me busy and I know that while many Francophiles cannot travel to France, they are grateful to receive the beauty products, books, clothings, stationery, antiques, jewellery and other sweet things that make up our boxes. 

Having a box of charming French items delivered to your doorstep is the next best thing to being in France!

Daydreaming and Planning

I was supposed to have repainted the interior, pulled up the carpet and white washed the original floor boards of my French cottage by now, but I've missed at least two trips to the house. I keep upbeat about when I can eventually do this by collecting photos and information on Pinterest and imagining how all my new linen toile bedcovers and curtains will look as part of the makeover.  

After seeing a great example on how to hang floral paintings up a stair well on the.frenchmade.home Instagram account by Victoria Hayden, I was immediately inspired to do something similar on my ground floor to first floor stairway wall. 

Knowing that I wanted to go to brocantes and flea markets to source some of the paintings I'd need, I also wanted to find a painting to use as a starting point to design the other paintings around. Taking a canvas painting to France would be easy and then all I would need to do would be to find my heavy gilt frames to mount them.  

Roslyn Mary Art 

Ros from Roslyn Mary Art paints like I wish I could and in her work I found the answer for my stair well floral paintings. It has been nice looking forward with delicious anticipation for each painting to arrive, and thinking about taking them home to France.  

I now have three paintings from Ros, two canvas easy-to-roll-up ones and a solid canvas frame that I'll have to carefully carry through hand luggage and transit when I'm able to travel again - I know the effort will be worth it!

Collecting Spode Blue Italian Tableware 

I've also been  collecting a pieces of vintage Spode for our sitting room cabinet display. The sitting room will under go a colour makeover when I get to the house as well. Spending hours searching online and the occasional visit to a local antique store, when Covid-safe to do so, has also kept me busy. 

So, if you like me find your life has been dramatically changed or you cannot do familiar activities, then maybe finding a new passion, starting a new collection, painting or finding small items to add to your home to bring you daily happiness might be new ways of staying positive and looking forward. And, of course you can continue to enjoy Life in France + All Things French with me here.

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