It was a rare afternoon out with friends. Cafés and restaurants had started to reopen after stringent lockdown measures and safety precautions were much in evidence. The waiting staff at our lunch spot wore masks and were getting used to a new way of meeting, greeting and presenting our food.
We didn't stay long indoors however and instead made our way to a nearby open air terrace which was situated beside a bus stop.
A farewell glass of wine before heading home? Who knows when we'll get out again.
Turns out it was a very public glass of wine. That bus stop was a busy place with passengers pulling off or putting on masks as buses arrived or departed and others waiting for theirs.
You know how people say they love to sit at a pavement café in Paris or other big city and watch passers-by? Well this time it was the other way round, the passers-by and passengers were people watching us!
The wine we had chosen was a 2016 Louis Latour Pinot Noir from the Domaine de Valmoissine in the Var. Corona virus hadn't been thought of when those grapes were bottled and while 2016 had disappointed us in other ways this wine was lovely. Every cloud...
Inevitably people who knew one or other of our company spotted us and stopped for a socially distanced greeting. "Well for some!" said an old work colleague and friend who would no doubt have liked to join us but for his bus pulling in to the stop. We raised a glass as he headed home.
Too public! Next time we'll take the train, eschewing the bus stop for the station.
A dégu-station !
