calvisson-leblon

  An increasing number of friends and relatives have caught Covid-19, fortunately for them, the Omicron variant.   Elderly, but vaccinated and boosted, they reported flu-like symptoms for less than a week and have recovered quickly.   The vaccine seems to offer an acceptable protection and as a result Covid Omicron no longer looks so scary and disruptive.   There is a new narrative in the media and government circles, that we will all get contaminated with the milder version (possibly several times!), so get on with our life.   Some of my friends agree and are becoming fatalist.   They consider relaxing social distancing to reclaim the old normal and our pre-pandemic routine.   In my building, many have decided that Omicron was no longer a big deal and they show their new found confidence by riding mask-less in the elevator in spite of the rules.   Actually, even for those ready to take risks to nag Omicron, restrictions still exist.   Ev...

  I have become a fan of face masks; they make me look younger and when I have my sunglasses on, I think I am incognito. My friend Marianne is right: I own more face masks than bikinis, obviously an age thing even in beach-loving Rio.   I have also more masks than panties and bras in my closet.   I vividly remember when I wore my first face mask.   It was early March 2020 when the first Covid cases landed on the Brazilian shores, apparently imported from Italy.   We were going to the opera and Silvia, who uses masks at work, gave each of us a humble surgical mask.   Our small group looked odd because few in the audience were masked then. During the early days of the pandemic, rich countries like the USA and those of Europe were consumed in toxic arguments on the merits of recommending face masks for the hoi polloi.   As experts from these countries were arguing Brazilians, who expect little from their government, made their own decisions and adop...

  Since the beginning of the year, I have been devoid of intellectual concentration, lost in inconsequential pursuits with nothing meaningful to report at the end of each day.    Regaining my intellectual vigor seems insuperable and this state of affairs worries me a lot.   One marker of this cerebral meltdown is my dwindling blog production.   Every year on average I post one blog a month.   My blogs were never intended to be brainy compositions; they nonetheless require a modicum of imagination and resolve and these two abilities are currently in short supply.   This “mash mellowzation” process started in March 2020 when the Coronavirus crashed into our lives.   Since then, l have been guzzling pandemic information like a drug addict.   Unable to travel and meet friends, I flooded their inboxes with the results of my obsessive research on the virus’ behavior and people’s efforts to protect themselves.   The worse of the pandemic seem...

Separated from Spanish Catalonia by the Pyreneans mountains, French Catalonia is known as Roussillon.   For decades, Spanish Catalonia has been seeking independence from Spain.   Roussillon, French from the mid 17 th century, is less keen on separating from France.   Unlike its Spanish counterpart, Roussillon is not a national economic powerhouse which may explain the feeble independence mood and hardly anyone speaks the Catalan language.   Perpignan is the main city of the region.   Roussillon is renowned for its beaches, medieval castles and Romanesque churches. When in France I like to join cultural and musical tours.   Our groups are usually small by excursion standards, and they got even smaller due to Covid travel regulations.   We had to send a proof of vaccination beforehand.     All the concerts we attended and the visits we made, were subjected to the passe sanitaire , the French “green pass”.   Many participants, particularl...

  Monthly blogs are a nice way to maintain contact with my friends who live in different continents, particularly during this pandemic-induced sedentary period.   My last blog was posted in April and since then I had nothing exciting to write about.   My inspiration has hit rock bottom.   I have been back to the south of France for a whole month and I am been scratching my brain to discover interesting news.   Calvisson is a heaven of peace and the variant Delta still seems far away from the village.   Thus, I have nothing meaningful to report.   I should welcome this pause after the Brazilian rough-and-tumble, but I am a bit bored. I have been quietly busy doing light domestic chores, driving around, exploring the food novelties in the local supermarkets and the innovations in the many hardware stores.   I greeted friends and cousins (mindful of social distancing) including playing guide to adventurous British visitors.   Although, my ti...

  I can only report one hippie adventure and fortunately my path did not cross that of Frenchman Georges Sobhraj! I just finished watching the BBC/Netflix miniseries The Serpent which is inspired by Sobhraj’s killing spree in the mid-1970s.  Also known as the Serpent, he targeted naïve backpackers on their nirvana quests in South Asia.  Sobhraj’s modus operandi was straightforward: after befriending and drugging his victims, he murdered them.  He and his lover, Quebec-born Marie-Andr é e Leclerc, cashed their victims’ traveller’s checks and forged their passports to travel around the region indulging in their debonaire lifestyle.  The 1970s were the heyday of traveller’s checks and switching passport photos was a kid’s game.  The suspenseful thriller focuses on Sobhraj and his nemesis, Herman Knippenberg, the young third secretary of the Dutch embassy in Bangkok.  Knippenberg and his wife Angela (in the late 1990s, I had met Angela Kane, her maiden n...

  Last week, a small group of friends (social distancing obliged) went to visit a grand but mysterious mansion in the chic suburb of Jardim Botẩnico.   The privately owned Brando Barbosa mansion was the setting of the annual CasaCor event [1] .   CasaCor showcases the creations of famous architects and interior designers and also displays landscaping exhibitions.   It started in Sẩo Paulo in 1987 and now takes place in major cities of Brazil and Latin America.   In 2017, Miami launched its own CasaCor on the same concept.   The CasaCor event is usually hosted in mansions or other eye-catching venues.   It is now the largest exhibition of its kind in the Americas.   In pre-pandemic days, it attracted over half a million visitors globally.   It is a fashionable and sometimes over-the-top event where one can mingle with the well-heeled locals. The individual displays were dazzling, creatively bold and technologically trendy, as well as highli...