May is an interesting month for France because of the number of holidays it celebrates. The first holiday being May 1st being International Labor Day and also known as Lily of the Flower Day. A week later, on May 8, France as well as many other countries celebrated a revised version of the 75th anniversary of VE Day commemorating the end of WW2. May 8, 1945 is when the Nazis surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. In England, instead of their previously scheduled celebrations, horn players were encouraged to play at 2:55pm from their own homes, pipers at 3pm, and Town Criers “Crying out for Peace” at 6:55pm. Another event that everyone can participate in from home is the ‘Nation’s Toast to the Heroes of WW2 at 3pm. I’m not exactly sure if anything in particular happened in France other than President Macron laying down flowers down at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe. The day after, in Russia, President Putin also had a toned down event commemorating VE Day as the country is still in the upswing of coronavirus cases. To tie into VE Day, I decided to give painting red poppies a go this past week. These poppies are also known as opium poppies, corn poppies, and Flanders poppies. John McCrae’s poem, In Flanders Fields, was written in 1915 during the first world war. Since then, red poppies became a symbol for soldiers who lost their lives. Russ and I gave a VE Day celebratory toast with whiskey and coke. We were out of wine. It was also the last weekend of lockdown.

So what happens now after the holiday? France began to reopen yesterday with many expectations for everyone to follow. The country is split into two zones, red and green. Paris happens to live in the red zone meaning the virus is still causing problems large enough to require more scrutiny. Gardens and parks are still off limits in the red zone. Some children are being allowed to go back to school on a volunteer basis and new rules as well such as no playing with each other. For the rest of us we can now move around in a 100km limit instead of just 1km without filling out an attestation form. Masks are mandatory for public transportation everywhere and they’ll operate at a limited capacity with some trains still prohibited from runnning. Although restaurants, bars, and theaters are to remain closed until later this year, salons are allowed to reopen. That’s a bit tricky because this industry involves very close contact with clients, but there are changes in how salon visits will occur. Walk-ins will not be accepted anymore and clients will be provided disposable masks, gloves, and disinfectant along with a charge for the cost of these items. Seems fair since stylists face not just a bigger overhead to provide the same services, but a bigger danger in the workplace. Other businesses will also have to follow strict rules in order to operate to protect the public and keep from relapsing into another wave of infection cases. Sadly, it’s only been a day and police have now banned drinking alcohol by the Seine River because so many people congregated without proper social distancing and, what seems to be in the pictures, no masks. Just like when we were getting used to living under lockdown, it’ll take some adjustment to live this new kind of normal where you can’t get close to your friends, neighbors, and favorite businesses to share a few happy moments. But then again, how will people act when visiting family, friends, and neighbors in the home?