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| A vineyard in the winter. You don't see this in the travel brochures. |
Really cold.
Even colder if you only have one winter jacket to share between you and your wife and no other winter clothing. Houses here are mostly made out of stone or cement blocks and sit on a cement slab. For most homes the insulation value is R2.5 for the walls and the heat is supplied by a fireplace or electric radiators. The last three weeks have seen the temperatures around 0c-6c throughout the day and down to -10c - 18c at night. We ordered in another 2 "stera" of hardwood and spent most of the time huddled around the fireplace wearing all our extra clothing. The bathroom and bedrooms were eight degrees while the living room managed 15 degrees.
Then there's the wind.
I read about the "Mistral" but one can only appreciate it by experiencing it first hand. It's a blustering, confused, and persistent icy wind that seems to come from all directions throughout the course of the day, lasting days and leaving one chilled to the bone and temperamental. The nature of the wind was best demonstrated when I watched a pigeon fly by doing barrel rolls.
The gales that spawn in the Crowsnest Pass have nothing on the "Mistral".
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| Chestnut and oak fire...nice and hot. |
It was hard to take Jean-Claude seriously when he told me in July that we would be able to skate on the pool in the winter..
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| Quissac's fountain with icicles. |
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| Ice on the Vidourle River. |
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| Our street corner. |
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| The Vidourle in the dead of winter. |
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| View from the summit of Pic Saint Loup looking north into the Cevenne mountain range. |
On the upside though, the winters are short and the wine is good....
I seem I'm on the only commenter on this post. I suspect that pity-factor is pretty low for your 'winter.'
ReplyDeleteThat winter reminds me of Japan and their lack of central heating, insulation, and booze addled white guys doing silly things in their underwear.