Writing

The torch was aflame by the light of the rising sun atop the monument to the Bastille and it called to me, four kilometers from my home, on my first post-lockdown run. I had descended the canal past the cobblestones and empty beer bottles of our old neighborhood. I ran through the vendors setting up … Continue reading The Coronavirus Deconfinement Dispatches: Day 2

Dawn broke unto a new France, one transformed by two months of lockdown. The coronavirus pandemic has been a singular focus for the entire nation as it has been for much of the world. Patience has been rewarded. The restrictions are starting to lift. A cold wind whipped trees and swirled leaves all morning. It … Continue reading The Coronavirus Deconfinement Dispatches: Day 1

A hard wind blows wild with only 11 minutes to go until midnight. 11 minutes until May 11th - the start of deconfinement - and I lie awake listening to the wind batter the sides of our new house. The excitement is palpable. We’re almost at the end of the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. … Continue reading The Coronavirus Containment Dispatches: Day 55

The quais are packed full of humanity. Kids jostle to fill up squirt guns at the fountain in the playground. Chatters sit at the chess tables and on the edge of the canal with cans of 1664. If it wasn’t for the ubiquitous masks, you could be forgiven for asking “what lockdown?” We’re only a … Continue reading The Coronavirus Containment Dispatches: Day 53