Last weekend, while rummaging through a drawer in search of one of my three passports, I came across a padded jewelry box. Opening it, I gazed upon one of my mother’s necklaces nestled inside. I pulled it out and held it up to the light. And in a flash I saw it dangling from my mother’s neck during the dinner parties she threw and loved so much. I remembered how it sparkled in the candlelight.

“This will look great against a black dress,” I said to myself. “I’ll wear it to work on Monday.”

Just to be clear and in the interest of avoiding a Kardashian-style copycat heist in Paris, this is costume jewelry. The stones are synthetic and the chain is metal, not silver.

And then a startling thought occurred to me. Can I wear this necklace wherever I want? I had a vague notion that I couldn’t. On the heels of a recent ruling of the European Union’s highest court that now allows companies (if they so choose) to prohibit staff from wearing visible religious symbols, I paused to reflect. Then I fired up the internet to get more information. 

Enshrined in a landmark 1905 law that prohibits the state from recognizing, funding or favoring any religion, secularism is taken seriously in France. State schools are strictly non-faith and all public bodies must be free of religious influence.

In March 2004 and under the presidency of Jacques Chirac, French legislators felt the need to refresh and reinforce this 1905 law. And so they dusted it off and passed a new law banning the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in state (public) schools. These symbols include Jewish skullcaps, Sikh turbans, Muslim headscarves and large Christian crosses. As a secular country, we were told, the ban was designed to maintain France’s tradition of strictly separating state and religion; it was also an attempt to enforce “religious neutrality” or “a neutral space.”

OK.

My initial reaction to this ban, I remember, was negative. Born and brought up in Canada (True North, strong and free), I believed it a violation of religious freedom and civil liberties. I didn’t like the idea of a government telling me what I could or could not wear.

Outside of schools, the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols is also banned in public buildings in France (courts and police stations, public hospitals and all government buildings).

Enter President Nicolas Sarkozy and yet another ban, this time prohibiting the concealment of the face in a public space. The law was passed in September 2010. Even though the face-covering ban includes all headgear: masks, helmets and balaclavas, the garments in question were the Islamic niqab and burka. A year earlier, Sarkozy defended France’s “secularism” to attack full Islamic veils in a speech. 

Never before had we heard the words ‘secular’ (laïque), ‘secularism’ (laïcité) and ‘secularization’ (la laïcisation) mentioned so often.

“Secularism is the new religion in France,” someone funny said.

“I want to solemnly say that the burka is not welcome in France,” said Sarkozy. “In our country, we cannot accept women prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity. That is not our idea of freedom.”

“We must not be ashamed of our values,” he added. “We must not be afraid of defending them.”

So where does my mother’s necklace fit into this story? I was considering wearing it to work. At the office there is one hijabi, a French-Moroccan woman who wears the hijab (headscarf). Well, if she can wear the hijab, surely I can wear my mother’s necklace.

On Monday I discussed the matter with my Franco-Lebanese friend and colleague who is of Christian faith.

“The wearing of a Christian crucifix will be interpreted as a provocation,” she said. “Personally, I wouldn’t wear it in the office. I wouldn’t even wear it walking around outside.”

A provocation? A Christian crucifix? My mother’s party necklace was taking on ominous, no, biblical proportions.

“But we weren’t religious,” I bleated, “The necklace was worn purely as a fashion accessory.”

“Well, we don’t know that.” said my colleague.

Oh, for heck’s sake.

When I was growing up in Canada, religion was not an issue. Now it’s a huge one. Why is that?

Sighing, I put the necklace back in its box and placed the box back in my drawer. If my mother had known, way back in the 1980s and 90s, that her necklace would end up in Paris and become such an object of controversy in 2021, she would have been very surprised indeed.

Half a century ago, Barry Kennedy was taken from his family and forced into an abusive system that sought to obliterate his Indigenous heritage. Now, after the discovery of more than 1,000 bodies in unmarked graves at schools including his own, he reflects on the traditions that were erased, the friends he lost – and Canada’s new reckoning with that history.

I am Canadian. And I feel shame, not specifically toward Canadians, but toward my fellow human beings the world over for the evil they are capable of committing. Listen to this podcast in The Guardian –

The Indigenous children who died at Canada’s residential schools – podcast | News | The Guardian

For those of you considering Europe this summer, you might want to rethink your vacation plans. Things are getting complicated.

The infection rates are rising again, especially the Delta variant.

“The fourth wave of infections is already underway,” said the Belgian Health Minister. “Hopefully it will not get out of hand.”

Portugal is being hit hard by the Delta variant, and travellers are advised not to go there if they are not fully vaccinated, and to be extra careful if they are. I’ll be awfully disappointed if I have to cancel. I booked my trip to Porto way back in April!

France could see a new spike in COVID cases by the end of July due to the spread of the Delta variant, said Gabriel Attal, the government spokesman.

Changing the subject, I received this Quality of Life Index the other day in my In box.

Notice something missing? Where the heck is France?!? It didn’t even make the top 25! I was surprised to see Canada and the U.K. so low down on the list. And where’s Italy??

Notice how high up The Netherlands (or Holland, as we mistakenly call it) is. That’s one reason I wanted to move there when I eventually retire. But after talking with many people and doing research, I think I’m leaning towards Spain. What’s not to like? Sunshine! Sangria! Beaches! Friendly people! Rich culture and history! Great food and wine! A huge expat community! Did I mention “affordable”? There must be a reason why Spain is the number one tourist and retirement destination. Well, I’m going to find out. First stop: Valencia!

Anyway, back to France. Turns out it’s number 26 on the list.

The Quality of Life Index is an estimation of overall quality of life by using an empirical formula which takes into account purchasing power index (higher is better), pollution index (lower is better), house price to income ratio (lower is better), cost of living index (lower is better), safety index (higher is better), health care index (higher is better), traffic commute time index (lower is better) and climate index (higher is better).

Here’s the link to the full list here –

Quality of Life Index by Country 2021 Mid-Year (numbeo.com)

The list was published in Le Figaro newspaper just the other day: the new top seventeen favorite retirement destinations of the French. (The list changes every year). How is the list compiled? From statistics provided by La Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Vieillesse (The National Old Age Insurance Fund). It is they who send retirees their monthly pensions directly into their bank accounts all over the world. Here it is for 2020/2021, in order of preference:

1. Spain
2. Greece
3. Morocco
4. Mauritius
5. Portugal
6. Italy
7. The Netherlands
8. Switzerland
9. Poland
10. Belgium
11. Germany
12. Sweden
13. Australia
14. Canada
15. United Kingdom
16. Japan
17. U.S.A.

This interests me because I wonder where I will eventually live during the next phase of my life. “What?” people say to me, “You won’t continue to live in France?”

No, I won’t. I’ve been here far too long. Had my life circumstances been different, I would’ve left France decades ago. It was never my intention to stay so long. Had my parents not passed away in the 1990s, I would’ve returned to Canada to be with them in their golden years. Had my sole sibling not been a terrible toxic person, I would’ve returned to Canada ages ago. The truth is, I don’t think I’ll ever return to my native country.

I had chosen Portugal and/or The Netherlands as a retirement destination. What I like about The Netherlands is that it’s progressive, pragmatic, liberal. It’s also perfectly situated in the middle of Western Europe with great train hubs. I can jump on a train and within an hour or two be in London, Paris, Lille, Germany, Denmark, etc. Mobility and easy transit is important to me, as is train travel. It also has great art, modern architecture and many picturesque towns with meandering canals. With Denmark, The Netherlands has the most advanced bicycle infrastructures in the world.

Portugal is also an attractive destination, but I’m not fully convinced yet. Now I’m looking at Spain, near Valencia, or further down the coast.

Wherever I end up, it sure is nice to have choices!

I never stay in a hotel when I go to Lille, I stay with my friends. But this time I decided, just for fun, to stay in a brand new hotel called the Moxy (it’s part of the Marriott chain). And boy, did I sleep like a log. The room was silent as a tomb and the bed firm and comfortable. At around 10 pm, I plumped my multiple pillows and turned on the television to watch an absorbing documentary on ARTE, the European culture TV channel.

The next day, Sunday, I took my 9-year old godson to a nice restaurant for lunch. Saturday, I sat on a park bench and watched him kick a soccer ball around.

“Look, Tata!” he said many times over. “Look!”

“Très bien!” I said encouragingly.

“Who’s your favorite soccer team – France or Portugal?”

“Errrrrr ….” I don’t watch sport. “France, I guess.”

Then his father joined us and we left the park to drive the 25 minutes to his small, secondary house on a small plot of land in the countryside. While his father puttered, I sat on a lawn chair and watched my godson jump up and down on a trampoline.

“Look, Tata!” he said many times over. “Look!”

“Très bien!” I said encouragingly.

The train ride back to Paris on Sunday evening – one hour – was very relaxing. As in any big city, it’s important to get away from time to time. The air and noise pollution in Paris is very stressful. What bothers me the most is street noise: the metallic whine of scooters. Cars and motorcycles. People talking loudly on their phones or playing loud music at 2 a.m. (My small flat overlooks the street.) There is intermittent birdsong, however, which is a joy. Right now as I sit here typing, I can hear a bird chirruping ardently. My dream is to live one day in a home not overlooking the street, and with a small garden.

So I’m all booked for Portugal in August. Until I spoke to a colleague today, I was unaware that the COVID situation, specifically around the Lisbon area, is particularly bad. I’ll be heading to Porto (north), but will have to keep an eye on the situation. For newcomers to this blog, I spent a perfect 11-day vacation in Porto last summer. Click on PORTUGAL up top to see my travelogue. It was so pleasant, I plan to return and do it all over again.

I’ll leave you with an excellent British travel website called SAWDAYS.

With a date for European travel swimming in and out of focus, it’s time for some armchair wandering through the places we’re missing so much, in the company of our overseas team.

They’ll take you shopping in the lesser-known French flea markets, trundling through Italy in a Fiat 500, basking at their favourite villas with pools, and on some socially-distanced sunny island hopping. 

If dreaming is all we can do, then let’s pour a glass of something perfectly chilled, get comfortable and drift off to Europe while we wait for the real thing to return. 

Six of the best European villas with pools – Sawday’s (sawdays.co.uk)