The French Connection

Friday 27th March

A long phone call from my old friend, Francois, who lives on the outskirts of Paris with his remarkable wife, Delphine, and three daughters Fanny, Alix and Jade. I had dropped him a line to make sure they were all okay. They are. He thinks one daughter has had it mildly but has recovered. One friend, a contemporary, had it badly, was hospitalised, but survived. He spoke about talking to his friend on the phone when he had recovered. He was so bad he simply could not breathe. Our conversation ranged across the economic disaster that waits in the wings for our countries though he was careful to take a positive line on it, the madness of Trump, the opportunities this virus has produced for us to think together as one world, not separately. We spoke hopefully about mutually assured survival. The economic realities of the virus-effect was uppermost in his mind. Not surprisingly. He has a family to feed.

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