My father went to the door, returning to the living room to say that a woman was asking for me. Surprised, I went into the kitchen. On the doorstep was a woman who I guessed to be in her late twenties. ‘I’ve come to see if you can help me,’ she said.

Greetings from the Residence Inn in Casper, Wyoming! In every plan, it would seem, there lies the danger of a monkey wrench and we seem to have found it. After an extraordinary stay in a cabin outside of Hill City, South Dakota, to which we’ll shortly return, we headed west, as in our original plan.

We’re happy to see photos of Parisians at their local cafés once again. The news from Menton is much more exciting in that community life can start again, your restaurants are opening, Sablette is coming back to life, and the Promenade du Soleil is now totally available for pedestrians. We truly miss the Menton life!

Dear Friends,

We are experiencing something none of us have ever witnessed. Comparative situations range from wars, Chernobyl, to 9/11. Our enemy is global and invisible. Who knew a microscopic virus could bring the world to its knees?

Life In The Time Of Coronavirus

These times are extraordinary. The spread of this worldwide affliction and its societal effects are sowing near-panic. Jayne and I are very concerned for our friends in Menton and the hardships now visited upon all of you. However, the situation here leaves us ever more in the dark with each passing day. Leaving our home has been greatly affected by the fact that there’s increasingly very little for which to leave. Here’s a chronicle of events in our part of the world

We’re happy to see that the weather in Menton is still temperate, nudging 20C, although a bit of rain seems to be in your future. I mention this because it’s still quite hot and humid here in Sarasota, and we’re hunkering down for cooler climes once we get to Menton.

“Is it hot enough fer ya?” Yes, thank you. At least we can use that excuse when our brain melts down from the unseasonal pre-August cauldron. Unfortunately, the “leaders” of the two largest English-speaking nations can’t use that as an excuse for their year-round circus of incompetence. Basta!

Greetings to our friends now basking in the warmth of late Spring, early Summer. A word or two about the current state of affairs. For the British, you are rightfully allowed to be frightened of the upcoming Halloween. For us in the US, we are frightened on a daily basis because it is Halloween every day. We don’t know from day to day what liberties will be thrown into the mire or which longtime global allies the US will insult and throw under the bus. It’s The Twilight Zone, a surrealistic TV show of days gone by, every day. That’s why we keep our eyes on the prize and so look forward to joining you soon again – once we get settled into our new surroundings and the agony of packing and unpacking a suitcase becomes a dim memory.

Nowadays, two of the world’s leading powers seem to be in a bit of a bind, their knickers twisted beyond belief. Here in the US, the only people seeming to profit by the dog and pony show that is our current government are the late-night hosts of the talk shows, led by Steven Colbert, and followed by your generous export, James Corden, then Jimmy Kimmel – all names that might be unfamiliar to you, save for James Corden.

This is how John Keats described the season in his poem, To Autumn. While on a train coming back from a short holiday in Dijon, his words seemed wonderfully apt and accurate. I gazed at mile upon mile of rural France, with little farms, woods and barns, tractors and herds of milk-white cows.