Tackling lockdown in Paris
Observing a strict lockdown in his home in Paris to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic is Nenagh-born rugby star Donnacha Ryan who is now experiencing a very different life off the pitch and away from team training.
CLASH OF HEADS
The former Munster and Ireland forward, currently sporting a big gash on his forehead requiring 15 stitches after a head clash with his Racing 92 team-mate Ben Tameifuna in their last game with Lyon five weeks ago, is virtually confined to his home by order of the French government with his wife Jennifer and two-year-old daughter, Remi.
For a big man standing six feet seven inches, being confined for almost the past three weeks to a modest house with a much more limited training regime than he is accustomed to could be frustrating. But it appears Donnacha is taking it all in his stride.
"I am happy to do it and spend a bit more time at home, because we are always on the move. I suppose one can get institutionalised from playing matches every weekend since I was a young lad and being constantly on the go.
"The thing I have enjoyed since the lockdown really is the value of time and getting invested in being at home, it's good," he said.
Like everyone else since the lockdown was imposed in France on March 17th, Donnacha and his family can only leave their home under strict conditions and they have to show an officially signed attestation form if stopped by the police to justify being out in public, or face hefty fines.
"You have to prove that you are going to work, the pharmacy, the doctor or to do your grocery shopping," says Donnacha. "People are also allowed out for 20 minutes a day to do some exercise, but that has to be within a 1km radius of your home."
"My wife Jen and I had to bring our two-year-old daughter, Remi, for a routine medical check-up and we were stopped by the police. Then I got stopped again myself when I was going out to the shop.
"It is very much like east Berlin, because literally there are police around all the shopping centres and we have a curfew in operation to prevent people going out during the night after 10am. Things have been getting stricter."
SEVERE RESTRICTIONS
Donnacha, who grew up on Rathmartin Road, Nenagh, said Parisians seemed to be taking the severe restrictive measures extremely seriously.
"To be honest, everyone is doing what we are being told to do. There is a very good buy-in to what the government has ordered and when you go to the supermarkets you have to wait in a queue while staying two metres distance - and the French always greet you with a handskake, but that too has stopped."
Donnacha added: "The attestation form you need with you to show the police may sound extreme, but it actually makes sense because it makes you conscious about the trips you make and you are not going out just willy nilly; it makes you a lot more efficient in what you do."
The Ryan family live in a modest house in the Ceaux area of the city, which has now become a limited training ground for Donnacha until the restrictions are lifted. With creches also closed, he now has a lot more time at home with his little daughter. "Remi's first language is French so I am learning little bits from her, while Jennifer and I are trying to keep her English up to speed. It's nice, we have a little garden where we can play with her and we have a small driveway where I do some training."
But for now intensive training for Donnacha is out by orders of his club - and there is a very good reason for that, especially at a time when a deadly virus is circulating, with 40,200 cases in France and over 2,600 deaths by Monday.
"We have been told not to do high intensity stuff because it lowers your immune system and leaves you more susceptible to getting infections or any sort of 'flu," he reveals.
"So basically we are doing just core stuff; exercises like skipping and on a stationary bicycle - exerice that doesn't get the heart rate going to anything above 80 per cent of the maximum."
GYM AT HOME
Donnacha says he has also ordered a rowing machine to supplement his homespun gym. "To be honest, I don't really like bringing gym equipment into the house because I'm normaly very switched off when I'm at home. But it is just the times we are in; we have to do something.
"The talk is that we are going to be in lockdown for probably another three weeks. There are hopes the country will be up and running by the beginning of May; that's what we are hearing anyway."
Donnacha says the break from training and matches has also given him time to focus on improving his french. "I am trying to treat learning the language as a hobby, and it is coming along. We have been having french classes once or twice a week in the club. I'm also using an application called 'News In Slow French. It's very good basically; it gives you current affiars in French. I just listen to that and pick up some new vocabulary."
LEARNING FRENCH
One thing he finds frustrating is the kind of language he picks up is from his fellow team members. With the average age of the squad being just 23, he finds they use a good deal of slang words. "So my French is not as polished as I would like it to be, but it is getting better."
Donnacha says he and Jennifer operate around a very good daily routine that, apart from the demands of a toddler, include reading, eating well, home and garden chores and going to bed early. Jennifer, a dentist who sold up her practice in the heart of Dublin to join Donnacha in Paris, is currently studying to comply with requirements to practice as a dentist in France.
Part of the daily routine involves taking part in the show of support and unity that their entire local community has adopted since the lockdown was imposed.
"Every night at 8pm everyone comes out to their front door and and claps for two minutes. Others arrive out with their frying pans and beat them with their wooden spoons - just to let the people next door know that we are all in this together. It's great, and it gives us a chance to chat to our neighbours and improve our French."
The coronavirus has even managed to force big, brave rugby stars into relative hiding, but Donnacha Ryan is enjoying it all. For now at least.