Just in case there are more preppers out there living in France, I just found this site which is run by the French government.
http://www.sante.gouv.fr/htm/dossiers/grippe_aviaire/
Still hardly anyone talking about it over here and no one I know is prepping (except you Frenchie Girl!)But good to know that the government is doing something to prepare…
Bonjour Paris. On this site, there is the Govt Plan for Avian Flu, which has been written for the Prime Minister by the General Secretariat for National Defence. If you can read French, it’s worth a try… They seem to find that the only way to deal with the BF threat is to use the military, recall of the reserve military personnel, close borders and public places, shut down medical practices, price controls, forciful taking of persons, goods and services (better tell no-one you’re prepping), etc. Beyond that, it’s very poor in logistic details, it’s a theoretical document not worth the paper it’s written on. It will fool the ordinary citizen, but we’ll be on our own…
The Indonesia/Thailand events of the last few days have made me nervous. Although I have not yet much intensified my preps, every time I go to the shops I much more look at the shelves asking myself whether to take 1, 2, 3 or more of the goods, usually ending up with “more”. I am hoping to get more information during the latter part of the month to decide on taking more days off to up my prepping dramatically. I have repeatedly asked my “co-lodgers” if they have made any preps, and they had in the spring, but finally ate them, thinking I was a fool, since TV/Radio had not talked about BF anymore. If TSHTF I may be faced with having to ask them to leave if they are not willing to SIP with their own food, because I can’t afford (a) the risk of having people in and out, (b) to feed them. (There’s 8 of us in the house). Sigh.
Paris,
There is a France Forum on h5n1 in french http://influenza_h5n1.vosforums.com
And there is a multi-national French language forum at http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=536
A lot of pragmatic infos, in french on both sites, an updates on the situation
Snowy Owl – at 12:51. Thank you. A mix of all sources of information is welcome; I dare say though that the best info I’ve found is in both FW and FT, EffectMeasure and Curevents, and it’s a pity most French people just cannot read English. At one point I was hoping to devote some time to translation between the two languages, but it’s just too much. Besides, posting on French fora is an adventure frailed with big stones on the path (at least to my outspoken mind).
Better late than never! Just read your message, Snowy Owl, and checked out the forums. Thanks for the addresses.
I’m starting to find it strange that no one is talking about the flu over here. At least not in my immediate surroundings. People tend to answer me with “What, the bird flu? But that never happened here.”
Medical preps are finished and I have started on food - at about 2 weeks and continuing. Confessed to my honey last night that I was starting to fill our closet with canned goods - said I’d read it on a French government site that they reccommended that everyone store two weeks of food in their homes. This is, alas, not really true. Apparently they reccommended that last winter, but haven’t mentionned it since… Anyway, my DH told me I was doing the right thing, thanked me for taking care of us so well and asked whether I had thought of powdered milk. So I’m feeling quite supported in my efforts.
Am currently wondering about water filters. Should I get one, and if so, what for? If we end up stuck in the city, there’s not going to be any water to filter (unless we make trips over to the Canal Saint Martin to get water, which doesn’t seem very realistic!)I had originally thought about going to the country, but that story about the prepper who gets appendicitis and dies, while his non-prepped friend in the city lives, made me wonder whether we shouldn’t just stick it out here. Oh, what to do, what to do? Buy more cans of food. I’m thinking with all the beans all of us are stocking, we could probably heat our homes with “natural” gas!
Thanks to all of you for the support and info I’ve found on this site.
Bon Soir Paris! Although my DW and I spent two wonderful weeks staying just in Paris Summer of last year, we did not get over to the Canal St. Martin. It was on my list, along with a few dozen other things to see. Next time. Do you live right there in the city? We could have stayed a month it was so comfortable, we were at a small 6th Aron. hotel on Rue Jacob, thankfully air conditioned, as it was very, very hot in June 2005. Never had a bad meal the whole time.. Would love to have a little place somewhere in Paris, but unless we hit the lottery here, not much chance, as real estate there is just as expensive as here in the Boston, MA area! Next year she will retire, and one place we will return is to your beautiful city. Sad that so very few are prepping, have tried for a year to convert people, but with little effect, although it seems more and more politicians here are starting to “get” it. Keep trying, many will remember your efforts when they see it mentioned in the future… Good luck to you all in the City of Love… I always read the posts here, Frenchie Girl and all of you. FG you have a difficult decision to make regarding all your “guests”. Would not want to be in your shoes as we say.
Bonjour Paris :)
You know what? Even [someone] who is well placed to know of various kinds of public threats, has told me “what bird flu?” For all I know, [someone] has probably drafted parts of the National French Plan Against Bird Flu.
About the water filters, I suppose if you can spare the expense, why not. However, if you are near enough to Nature’s waters, canals, rivers, etc, to be able to fetch some, with enought ppe to protect yourself, then perhaps bleach/iodine would be a good indication. Paris being strategically important is likely to be better protected than other towns, and the likelihood of total disruption in Paris, or the bigger towns of the country, to me seems remote. I know we may face social/economic/etc. disruption, but I’d think some strategic towns like Paris will get better governmental care than others. I am as certain as can be that the military will intervene strongly in those towns. They’ll reintroduce the draft if too many of them are ill. Therefore, I would not worry unduly if you are in Paris with respect to water and electricity. However, army food rations are probably unpalatable, so concentrate on food I’d say.
Best wishes and to read you soon again!
Forgot to say: And concentrate on medicines too
Merci Frenchie girl! Medecine was actually what I concentrated on first since it’s the hardest to accumulate. Your advice to me back then was a great help. I just topped up some more vitamin C, echinacea and probiotics today and mentionned the “grippe” to the naturopath who works at my local Vie Claire (health food store). He told me a lot of customers are stocking up on alternative medecine in preparation for BF and that those who work in the store have all started preventive treatments themselves. So maybe we’re not as alone as we feel… So far have about two weeks worth of food. Inch by, inch, step by step…
Paris, it’s the beginning that’s a little difficult, but I find things easier now. There are things you can buy at cheaper shops. If you have any way of getting to Lidl, Ed, Leader Price, Intermarché and Leclerc, in this order, then you can have about a month’s food for two for about 200 euros - that is, if like me, you enjoy cooking nice dishes, a glass of wine, and not just the ordinary stuff. If you take only the basics of basics, you can do one month for about half that sum. Pasta, rice, lentils, oil, tuna, ravioli, cannelloni, peas, beans, jams, fruits in syrup, flour, yeast, sugar, California wine, soap, toothpaste, washing up liquid, washing powder, bin bags, TP, all these are really cheap. It only adds up if you want more fancy stuff. I’ve probably about 4 months more or less of food. Storage space is throughout the house in all nooks and crannies. I’d say about 2 cubic meters worth of space, roughly. I’m now concentrating on nicer type of food/tins rather than basic. By the way, a number of stores presently have prep items on sale - spaghetti/pasta, veggies, milk powder (Intermarché). Keep on the look-out for these 3 for 2 deals.