Wednesday, March 11, 2020

The Day the World Changed Forever

My March visit to Paris was like any other - full of good food, visits with friends, trips to our favourite shops, and lots of laughs.  We knew COVID-19 was starting to flood Europe, but we couldn't have anticipated just how quickly things were about to change.

In typical fashion, G accompanied me to the train station.  He was coming straight from work, so we met directly at the Thalys lounge at the station.  We popped into Five Guys for a quick dinner, trying to make the most of our last evening together.  Finally it was time to make our way to the train platform.




Per usual, after I dropped my bags at my seat, I stepped back out onto the platform so we could stretch out those last few minutes together.  It would be two more weeks before we'd see each other again.  I was meant to come back to Paris to celebrate his birthday.


I tried to snap a cute selfie but G was goofing off.





Finally grabbed this one, and then it was time for real goodbyes.


One last kiss before the conductor closed the doors.  We waved to each other from opposite sides of the window until the train pulled away and we could no longer see each other.

Little did we know, that was the last time we'd see each other - not for 2 weeks as we'd planned, but thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown about to hit Paris, for an indefinite period of time with no clear end date in sight.

By the time I made it back to Amsterdam that night, the WHO had officially declared a pandemic.



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