I’m off to Lille this weekend to spend time with the kids. Saturday afternoon we’ll make Mexican enchiladas to eat in front of the big screen Saturday night at 8 pm. France is playing England (FIFA World Cup). I’m not really a football (soccer) fan, but there’s football fever here and it’s infectious. When Morocco won against Spain on Tuesday, it went wild here in France.
HEAT RATIONING THIS WINTER
To save on heating, the office tower where I work turns the heat off over the weekend. This Monday it was freezing in the office. Tuesday too, it didn’t start to warm up until Wednesday. I actually took a hot water bottle to work, wore multiple woollen scarves and typed while wearing fingerless woollen gloves. This coming Monday I’ll work from home. I have a 16-page translation to do, so I don’t necessarily need to be in the office. Temperatures are expected to dip below zero this weekend. I miss the warmth and sunshine of Spain!
The French government has issued a new energy-saving app called Ecowatt. Its purpose is to inform and influence us on our energy consumption. We could have shutdowns this winter.
On the Ecowatt app, each day is classified according to a color code:
- green: “reasonable” consumption level;
- orange: “high” consumption
- red: “abnormally high consumption, with risk of power outage”
Not much else to report. I’m off to a northern destination mid-December, by train, to a city I visited nine years ago and have wanted to return to ever since. One of my biggest pleasures living in Europe is train travel.
Here’s the Public Service link about Ecowatt and the government’s attempts to encourage citizens to reduce energy:
https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A15959?lang=en
Juliet in Paris
So sorry that you and others are going through this horrible ordeal caused only by a rapacious dictator.
It never ceases to amaze me how one single person … with their twisted, oversized ego … can cause so much havoc and destruction in the world. I have lots of ideas how to get rid of this dictator, but I won’t mention them here.
Train travel here in Europe is (usually) a great pleasure, I agree.
“Usually” is true. When there aren’t train strikes, for example. The SNCF is threatening to strike over the Xmas period, but Thalys shouldn’t be affected because it’s not part of SNCF.
The DB here in Germany also has strikes occasionally, but the big problem right now is construction on the lines. After decades of neglect, they are now trying to repair or expand everything at once.
I plan to watch the match tomorrow. Some local Francophile friends are gathering in an Irish pub to watch. I plan to curl up at home in front of the TV. Allez les bleus!
I’m betting that France will win. With Mbappé on board, it’s nearly a sure thing.
Une amie porte un t-shirt aujourd’hui qui dit: “Liberté, Égalité, Mbappé”
Olivier Giroud is also good.