Two days home from Seville saw us frantically unpack, tackle a mountain of washing and repack for colder climes and our annual ski trip to Beck’s brother in Switzerland.
We started the trip popping in to the Woods in Nottingham for a good catch up with friends who we haven’t seen since New Year.
Onward to the Eurotunnel and we had two nights in Bruges. This is where things started to get weird.
The onset of Coronavirus, which had swept Asia during Christmas and New Year had reached Europe with Italy in a particularly bad way. The border between Italy and Switzerland was already closed to all but essential traffic, but that was fine, we weren’t going that way. Bruges was extremely quiet and we wondered whether it was just early in the season. But when we spoke to staff in restaurants we were told that it was unusually quiet even for March. We spent the day running 10km from Bruges to the pretty village of Damme and back, taking advantage of the flat terrain, and then dinner and beers at the reliably good Halve Maan brewery.
As we left the city, the Belgian government took the unprecedented step of closing all bars, restaurants and cafés to prevent the virus’s spread. This pattern of shut downs continued as we hit Switzerland, with all ski resorts closing on the day we arrived and non-essential shops / bars / restaurants closing shortly after. Two days later, France entered lockdown, raising questions over the possibility of transiting the country to catch the Eurotunnel home. Thus began a surreal cycle of refreshing the news and seeking updates on travel advice, followed by just getting on with enjoying our holiday, going walking, running, langlaufing, and even hiking up the hill for a short run back down on the snowboard, during which it was almost possible to forget what else was going on.
It was impossible not to get a little paranoid at times as we wonder whether our aching muscles signify the onset of the virus or are just down to doing a 10km cross country ski loop. A sore throat could mean the start of the persistent dry cough, but also we have spent the day sanding Drew & Mel’s shutters and have probably just breathed in too much dust! Am I flushed because of a fever or just because I’ve been in the sun all day and then had a glass of white wine or two?! On our final day however, we run a 10km in one hour, the fastest we’ve ever done, so we figure we must be reasonably healthy!
It’s pretty cool to see the house taking shape with the concrete floors poured and plaster boarding done while we are there. We also help out with sanding and priming the window surrounds and some shutters (a seemingly Sisyphean task!) We fill a skip with debris and Ben acts as electrician’s mate!At the start of our second week, the UK enters three weeks of lockdown and we mull over whether to stay put or head for home. Eventually we make a decision based on the forecast (it’s due to turn rainy and then snowy which will limit both outdoor activities in the absence of ski lifts and external painting / sanding) plus the fact that we are fast consuming all the DIY materials (paint, sandpaper etc) that we bought prior to the shops shutting. This, combined with a mountain of our own DIY at home and a three week window to get it done, leads to our choice of hot footing it to the Eurotunnel. We left Murg slightly later than planned, at 7.15am, rather than 7am but still we were at the French border before 9am. Beck had worn her best Breton top to ingratiate us with the Gallic gatekeepers and when the heavily masked customs officer asked “Ou allez vous?”, she managed to reply “Nous retournons chez nous en Angleterre, par Eurotunnel”, ensuring our passage into France. Four wee stops, three coffees, two refuels and one tunnel under the sea and we were home. It took 14 hours door to door including all breaks, the tunnel journey and accounting for the hour time difference. No doubt this timescale was greatly aided by significantly reduced traffic on all roads, but all in all we both felt OK at the end of it – not something we’d want to do on a regular basis but not as painful as we were expecting. We really hope to be able to go back to Europe in September for our opera and cycling jaunt. Reckon the hospitality industry is going to need our support!