- A hundred French nationals left this Friday the Carry-le-Rouet holiday center where they were placed in quarantine.
- These French people lived in the Wuhan region, the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic.
- Now, they have been able to find their loved ones in France, without knowing when they will be able to return to China.
From our special correspondent in Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du-Rhône),
A little fair-haired boy walks away from his parents to jump into the arms of Sylviane and Etienne, all smiles, on the parking lot at Rouet beach, before settling in the car seat. The presence of his grandparents was a surprise for the four-year-old boy. A scene a priori banal but which is not necessarily so for this family, which fled the epidemic of coronavirus in China. The son, the daughter-in-law and the grandson of Etienne and Sylviane are part of the hundred French nationals from Wuhan who finally regain their freedom, after fourteen days of quarantine in a holiday center in Carry-le-Rouet, in the Bouches-du-Rhône. The reunion is under the watchful eye of the many journalists who surround the vehicle, leaving for Nîmes where Etienne and Sylviane live.
Their son has lived in the Wuhan area for a year for professional reasons. He fled the epidemic of coronavirus which rages in the country, and can finally find his, for the greatest pleasure of Etienne and Sylviane, who have not seen this little world since last August.
"We're going to bring the little pony kid"
"We are super happy," says Etienne. The reception conditions were great. It was Club Med! We're going to make a good meal and bring the little pony! "And to regret, however, the doubts aroused by the arrival of his returnees, and in particular the criticisms expressed by local elected officials. “The mayor of Carry was afraid for his sea urchins, while hey, my son is a manager at Renault, he is not a bad boy! "
While waiting for the small Red Cross vehicle to transport his wife from the holiday center to the parking lot, Eric is struggling to contain his emotion and impatience. His girlfriend, originally from Wuhan, left to celebrate the Chinese New Year with his family, at the very beginning of the epidemic. Joanne quickly found herself trapped in China, in her mother's apartment. She then took the first plane to France a fortnight ago, before also being placed in quarantine, a few kilometers from her husband who lives in Salon-de-Provence. His beautiful asked him, on this first day outside the holiday center, and lovers' day, to be able to go with him "to walk freely in the mountains. "We haven't seen each other for a month and a half, but Valentine's Day is with her every day," he smiles. When they meet again, the couple burst into tears.
"Return to normal life"
Patrick (the first name has been changed) hugs "his pretty little girl" whom he was eager to kiss. With his wife, he specifically came from Villefranche-sur-Saône to pick up the young student, who interrupted her internship there. "It feels good," he slides, hugging her with a big smile under his chapka. The family leaves for the Rhône, where the girl will now live. Throughout the morning, as the Red Cross van travels, scenes of reunions multiply, with them hugs, emotional looks and happy faces, most often away from journalists.
The returnees from Wuhan aspire to find a mundane daily life, as Charles, one of them explains. In the parking lot, the young man finds a friend, and dreams of a "seafood platter" between friends to celebrate the end of this quarantine. "We are all very happy to go out, to return to a normal life without this physical barrier in the center of Carry-le-Rouet," he explains. The young Caledonian, in a relationship with a Chinese woman from Wuhan who has chosen to stay with his family despite the situation, will be hosted for a few days at his friend's house in Frontignan.
"We all hope to see each other again"
Vincent, another returnee, finds his father with enthusiasm. "It's good, we came home," he smiles, loading his large suitcase into the trunk of the family car. We were well looked after. We really had a good quarantine experience. It could have been much less pleasant. "
Over the course of these two weeks, links were forged in this microcosm that had become the holiday center of Carry-le-Rouet. Through the windows of their vehicles, some greet each other in the parking lot, before finally separating. Others would like to thank the staff of the Red Cross present, some of whom seem to be affected by these departures. For their last evening, the returnees improvised a song, on the tune of Aline , by Christophe, intended for the Red Cross teams who took care of them throughout the stay, to shout at them, not that they come back, but their thanks. "It was a very moving moment," says Marc Zyltmann, who coordinated operations for the Red Cross.
"We all hope to see each other again next Chinese New Year," says Charles. We hope that many of us will see each other again to drink on this revenge of life. There is no reason not to return to China. It remains to be seen when: a question that no one could answer this Friday at Carry-le-Rouet.
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