Panic on the streets of Chassenieul

First many thanks for the concern for Callan. He is feeling much better and will be back at school tomorrow. He is currently in a sulk because I told him off after I found out he has just been skateboarding in the barn. "I'm not doing jumps or anything!" I can just see myself back at the hospital trying to explain to the surgeon and the social services why he was skateboarding 3 days after an operation to pin a broken arm.

Anyway, back on topic.
Hard-up french fisherman are blockading access to fuel refineries at Gonfreville in Normandy, La Rochelle and Port-La-Nouvelle in the south. They are also blocakding the ports at laRochelle, Le Havre and elsewhere. They want the price of marine deisel to be pegged at 40 centimes per litre. Currently running at 80, they say it is no longer worth them putting out to sea with fuel at that price.
They did it last November too.
All of a sudden, panic sets in at the fuel stations around our area. The pumps at the Champion chain of supermarkets were closed, so the whole world gets in the cars and form queues at all the other stations. According to the rumours at the factory, at one station, the till operator was forcibly restrained for a short time while motorists filled their cars for free.
I phoned Fiona when I heard of the "crisis". She looked out the kitchen window, saw no cars at the pump over the road at the cafe. She put 30 Euros in since the car was empty.
Now, days later, everything is as normal, all the pumps have fuel, and the whole thing was stampeded by panic buying.

News from May 24th indicates the fishermen are getting bored and going back to sea.


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