Marina life continues on here in Maryland as we've undertaken a repair/reinforcement of the deck (more to follow on that!) in the midst of a heat wave and have begun to lay in spares and provisions for the winter cruising season. Oh, and we are about a week out from sending the Second Mate to France for the school year!
Here's the deal--the U.S. State Department has issued a "Level 4--Do Not Travel" advisory for France due to COVID-19, terrorism, and civil unrest. And here we are, sending our daughter there in nine days and a wake up. Are we crazy? Should we pull her from the program? You may think we are crazy, but we have no plans to pull her from the program. We have done all we can to mitigate the COVID-19 risks and she is one very cautious kid when she's out in the community. As for the terrorism and civil unrest, it's a threat in Paris and mostly on the weekends. People are upset and are protesting...it's like that in many places around the world right now. She will be in Paris, but only briefly and during the week...she will be in a chaperoned group...and honestly, she has been raised in a home where we talk about risk (weather, public unrest, sports...) openly. From Paris, she will travel to join a family that faces all of these risks with their two kids in their home in Tours. Her risk, in our opinion, is comparable to what she faces here in her own country and therefore we are moving forward.
She's not alone...I will be traveling to a "Level 4--Do Not Travel" country (due to COVID-19 and wildfires) as well on the same day. I'm monitoring https://travel.state.gov/ for both of our locations daily, we are ready to meet the COVID requirements, I am in contact with my Airbnb host for "on the ground" conditions, and we will flex if we need to. This is the state of travel right now and as a traveling family, we accept it!
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| The intrepid travelers are sweating the heat wave and clogged a/c lines more than the travel requirements! |
~Jo, 1st Mate
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