1st May. As I approached the Place de la Liberté in front of the Town Hall this morning I spotted about 10 people conducting a ritual "May Day" demonstration there. They were walking in a circle maybe 30 yards across and as I neared them I could hear the mumblings of their discontent. They really don't understand how lucky they are to live in such a blessed part of France - but that truth cuts no ice with these perpetual grumblers who are always looking for something for nothing.
The community of Anglet sits between Bayonne and Biarritz and the three are effectively merged together into the conglomeration known as BAB (Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne). It's a convoluted tangle of streets lined with the characteristic white-painted Basque houses and, for a driver, it's a real challenge to acquire the mental road map. After 12 years, I've almost got it!
Here's how the normally vibrant town of Anglet appeared during April 2020.
I can't remember a time when we entered the month of May with such a sense of foreboding, unease and a lack of hope. Who would have thought that, just a few short months ago, many thousands of us would not be alive to greet the summer.
The world has changed - all that we knew is now history. For those of us who are retired, staying at home is do-able, without too much stress. However, for those of you who are working, I think you're going to be experiencing a sea-change in the way your lives are organised in future. For some, you're going to find that your job has evaporated. This crisis has revealed so many dependencies and unforeseen links and I'm sure there are still some more earth-shuddering shocks to come. Given time, I think the natural order of things may be re-asserted - but how much time are we talking about?
In the meantime, here's Oldarra, one of my favorite Basque choirs, with "Maitia Nun Zira":