A Gray Day on Black Friday
Today is Black Friday here in France. They call it Black Friday in English - not Vendredi Noir. Most people don’t have a clue as to why it’s called that. They just know that most large stores offer good discounts on items people might want like TV’s cell phones, and other electronics. But all kids of items are on sale today, just as in the US last Friday. People don’t line up and spend the night in front of a store to be the first one’s in line. Right now with Covid restrictions, there is a 9:00 pm to 7:00 am curfew. But you talk about a super-spreader event - even the big stores have narrow aisles and limited space to line up at a cash register. So we are going to pass today.
Although the photo below doesn’t show it that much, it’s very windy and cold here. The clouds are racing across the sky as if they, too,
are in a hurry to get to some sale or another. The rain that was coming down in buckets earlier this morning has passed, So we might do a few errands later today.
Otherwise, not much is new. Even the parakeets seem to be gone. Maybe they migrate to Nice and Cannes for the winter, like many older, wealthy people still do from the north of France. If I lived near the Belgium border or in Brittany, I would hightail it to a warmer, dryer climate, too, if I could. At this time of the year as we approach the winter solstice, the sun doesn’t rise until after 8:00 and sets close to 4:45. When I say it’s gray, it’s not just when it’s cloudy. There is a real dearth of daylight right now. Paris is on the same latitude as Newfoundland. Temperature-wise, you wouldn’t suspect it, but it becomes very obvious in winter that we are pretty far north.
I hope you who are reading this are able to get outside and enjoy some sunlight. The best I can do, if this weather hangs around for a while, is to take vitamin D.
Oops - I take it all back. The sun just came out. It might turn into a good walking day after all.