My husband and I are still in France, and if you take a quick look at the above photo, top left, you can vividly imagine the kind of weather we've been having. For several days there was a good old heat wave, but more than forty degrees all day Friday culminated in a spectacular storm that appeared from nowhere and ended before you could shout "HELP!" Which in fact I did, because what looked like a few summerly raindrops, suddenly - and I MEAN suddenly - turned into thunder, lightning, hail the size of snowballs, gales with hurricane force and horizontal rain. I literally threw everything - towels, books, clothes, shoes, cushions inside and bolted all doors and windows. My flowers lost most of their petals, and the sun umbrella was discovered later behind a palm tree. It had simply flown away, like a crazy Mary Poppins - even while folded down.
Calm before the storm at St. Cyprien Beach
Storm brewing over Mt Canigou
A bit closer and a bit more threatening - but I didn't get it yet
Wham, bam etc - I notice that in this photo the sun umbrella has already disappeared
Serene calm again after the storm - like nature is saying: "Me? What did I do?"
I have written before about the winds down here in this southernmost part of France - they can literally blow you away, and you can forget about any kind of elaborate hairdo. Last night we went to dinner at our favourite restaurant - Can Marty - and I decided to simply blow-dry my newly washed hair in the wind during the ten-minute walk to the village. Arriving at Can Marty I met the multi-lingual Mario who runs a fabulous B&B and conference centre here in Thuir - La Fauvelle.
I do lie. I didn't recognise him at first, and he tried his best to smile, wave and catch my eye - and then suddenly I realised he was speaking Norwegian to his two fellow guests. Mario is Portuguese, but speaks Norwegian, English, French and I don't know what other languages - to perfection. When he showed us and our French neighbour Jean-Marc around La Fauvelle a couple of years ago I was in awe of the way he juggled three languages - easily. I've been in the same situation several times - but oh, to have his effortlessness!
Tuna steak with Maître d'hôtel beurre
So I went over and said hello, and he complained in his charming Latin way that he thought I was angry with him since I was not responding to all his efforts of contact - but I've only met him the once before, so I don't think anger would have had time to enter into our relationship! Well ah - the wind... We'd reserved a table outside, and so had Mario & Co, and napkins, tablecloths, olives, plates and glasses were flying. While I talked to them it struck me - I hope you people don't think I normally have this kind of hairstyle… But it's all what you get used to, and a mere raised eyebrow across restaurant tables signals that you're oh so familiar with the Tramontane in this part of the world.
But I always carry a hair clip with me down here.
The world is so small though - Mario's friends - who were accompanying him at the restaurant last night - have a son who rented our house some years ago. But his parents have been to Thuir many times - so that's why he decided to rent here, I suppose. I simply love these coincidences!
Interesting hairdos
We've been busy clearing weeds, trimming palm trees and cutting bamboo on our little property. We keep as much as possible simply paved over, so that it won't become a jungle in between stays, but wow, oh wow, how it all grows! Everything Sophie cut and trimmed so meticulously in April is unrecognisable and had to be done again. Oh, Sisyphus - what do you do to us?
April
June
Off to the dump - in a rental car (!)
Can someone please supply me with dynamite, so that I can get rid of those bamboo roots once and for all? This time I tried to spray the remaining little stems with weed killer the second I'd cut them (I read this on Google). Will it work? Well, new roots will sprout in no time anyway. The girl at the garden centre provided no comfort - "Once you have it, it will spread partout, partout, partout!" The best way to get rid of it apparently is to dig up the whole infected area and kill, kill, KILL! How can something as pretty (and as useful) as bamboo become such a pest and a plague?
The Queen kindly waves and asks you to show your support for England
My homemade flag for today - blanket, my top and sheet. Vive la France! Allez les bleus!
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