French Alps and Pineapple Lumps
Thanks to the pandemic, New Zealanders scattered across the globe are celebrating Christmas in differentways. As we count down to the big day, Kiwis on each continent will sharewhat the festive season will look like for them. In part 1 of 7, Katarina Williams speaks to Rachel Scott in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France.
Rachel Scott’s two children, dubbed Free-wis (FrenchKiwis), can’t spend Christmas in New Zealand but that hasn’t stopped them enjoying a taste of home while nestled in the foothills of Mont Blanc – the highest peak in Western Europe.
As the family, including Scott’s French husband, Bernard, spend much of their time in the lead-up to Christmas in a Covid-19 lockdown and observing a nightly curfew, Scott’s 16-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter are busily opening the doors on their homemade advent calendars.
Pineapple Lumps, Jet Planes and even Peanut Slabs are among the Kiwi treats the siblings are discovering ahead of what will be a low-key Christmas at home.
At the end of October, French President Emmanuel Macron placed his country in a six-week partial lockdown to reduce contact and keep travel to ‘‘the absolute minimum nationwide’’ as the virus continued to stir.
People were encouraged to work from home but schools were able to remain open, with facemasks compulsory for all children older than 6.
Shops and public libraries were open but bars, restaurants, cinemas, museums and gyms remain closed. Places of worship may open but with a maximum of 30 people for ceremonies, with everyone required to wear masks.
Individual outdoor exercise and walks with household residents or pets were allowed within 20 kilometres of home, and for no longer than three hours, provided a permit was obtained.
But on December 15, the country’s second nationwide lockdown was replaced with a night-time curfew, preventing people from being outside their homes between 8pm and 6am without an authorisation form.
While Christmas Eve will be exempt from the curfew, it will remain in place for New Year’s Eve, with theatres, cinemas, bars and restaurants remaining shut until at least January 20.
The French can ski but, with ski-lifts prevented from operating, it’s a long walk uphill. This will likely result in billions in lost tourism industry revenue.
French authorities have signalled they will make random border checks to deter people from travelling to ski slopes in Switzerland and Spain.
While Scott could probably cross the border to her work at the United Nations’ Development Programme in Geneva, Switzerland, she has chosen to remain at home in Chamonix-MontBlanc because much of her neighbourhood ismade up of elderly people who are among those most atrisk from Covid-19.
Scott said the first lockdown in the European summer was far easier to deal with than the second winter lockdown – which has ended with about 25 centimetres of snow coating her garden.
’’In the first three months of lockdown, I suppose I left the house maybe twice in three months but it was nice,’’ Scott said. ‘‘It was summer and you could sit out on the terrace and hang out so it was fine.
‘‘Then we had a period where it was much nicer, much better, much freer, and we could go out and be careful, wear masks and still get around.
‘‘But [when we went into] lockdown again ... it’s been harder and you’re sort of stuck inside.
‘‘It was a novelty first time around. But it’s boring now to be honest. There’s only so much Netflix you can do.’’
With the night-time curfew in place, Christmas for Scott and her family is likely to be celebrated at home.
‘‘Last year, we went to Italy because my friend and I didn’t want to cook, so we took the families and skied for a couple of days and ate at restaurants.
‘‘This year, I think we’ll probably have just a little quiet Christmas, and we’ll probably do the whole cooking thing because there’s not much else to do.
‘‘I suppose we’ll get stuffed and roll around on the floor with big heavy bellies,’’ Scott joked.