I’m familiar with a number of COVID measures and restrictions by now, from complete lockdown to gathering or capacity limits. I got used to having my temperature taken in stores and bus stations in Brazil, I can’t remember the last time I stepped into an indoor public space without a mask on and joined many, many lineups to get what I needed over the past few months.

I was new to curfew, though. I think a curfew was implemented in Quebec before Christmas (?) but not in Ontario, at least not before we left in December. This measure also became popular in Brazil in March but not in Maceió where I ended the trip.

A 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew was introduced in France in January “for at least a couple of weeks.” Like most COVID restrictions, it’s still in effect and it’s quite controversial. Not only it’s annoying to be forced to stay home after 6 p.m. when you’re working all day but it’s a real hassle to get the grocery shopping done. For instance, my mom is teaching, so she can’t work from home. She usually works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and it takes her about an hour to get home. So if she needs groceries, she has to somehow leave work early. Plenty of French face the same issue and you can expect long lineups both because everybody shops at the same time and because capacity is limited. And supermarkets don’t let anyone in past 5:45 p.m.

A couple of days after I arrived, curfew was pushed back to 7 p.m. because of the time change. It makes things a bit easier but it’s still annoying—and I’m not sure what’s the science behind it.

So in Nantes, we have a daily curfew “show” curtesy of entertainment industry workers left jobless by the pandemic.

At 6:30 p.m., rain or shine, they walk around the city singing the countdown to 7 p.m.

“Couvre-feu, rentrez braves gens. Tout va bien…” (“Curfew, go home folks, everything is fine”).

Then at 7 p.m. one of them activate a loud siren as a final warning and they scatter at the sound of it.

The way random people react is pretty funny. The other day, I overheard two old ladies wondering when the government had started to send “curfew reminders.”

“I can’t take it anymore,” a guy told me the other day when I was taking picture of the “protest”. “This is ridiculous. I shouldn’t have to be home at 7 p.m., I feel like an inmate.” “This is not enough,” a lady said. “We should all stay home. The government should do more.”

What a crazy world…