Day 5 Covid19 - Shopping

We were out of crisps, and running low on various essentials so instead of waiting until Saturday to do the weekly shop, I went on Friday thinking that there may be fewer people.

If you thought you could still pop to the shops for a quick shop, think again. The supermarkets have instigated a restricted flow of people, no more than a certain number inside at any one time. I had to wait with my trolley outside in a nice orderly line. This being France, you might expect a disorderly line, pushers-in and so on, but no, we were all meekly waiting with our barrier-trolleys ensuring a distance of 1m between us. The over-70s and infirm could legitimately jump the queue and were invited to by kindly security guards as they watched over us...

I waited for an hour to get inside. Luckily the sun was shining and it was nice and warm. I worked on dosing up my vitamin D levels and texting my son on which specialised shampoo he wanted.

Once inside the hallowed halls, we were exhorted over a loud-speaker to hurry up and get on with it so that the people outside could have their turn. No dawdling please, no perusing every single aisle. Just grab what you want (in sensible amounts) and go!

I found just about everything on my list, and chucked in a leg of frozen New Zealand lamb at the end because by that time, I'd been there for 2 hours (including waiting) and was aching for something to look forward to.

When I'd finished I went to the checkout. I had to stand at one checkout, and ping my little hand-scanner at the one next to it. When the woman ahead of me went to pay, she walked down our line, went through the security gate then crossed over to the checkout with the caissière in order to pay presumably so we weren't breathing all over her. She also had a plexiglass barrier between her and the customer.

I felt quite queasy after all the stress of a simple shop and could practically feel my temperature rising as I walked out of the side door to avoid the queuing shoppers. It's a brave new world!