Brrrrrrrrrrrrr...It's freezing!!

We know that when we think of the south of France we think of palm trees, warm weather & outdoor cafés. Well, not at the moment. There are still palm trees here, but the cold weather that is hitting the rest of Europe has hit us here as well. Temperatures have dropped very low for the past week, sometimes nearly hitting the teens -- not counting wind chill. It's 9:30 pm, & according to weather.com the temperature in Pézenas is 24°F, but feels like 10°, & no doubt it will continue to drop as the night progresses...& this isn't even the coldest day this week.  The mistral winds are blowing fiercely, adding to the discomfort. This wouldn't be quite so bad if we were living in a house that was well insulated & had central heat. The reality is that the house is stone & was built in the 1640s (think of the 3 Musketeers), has tile floors & windows that don't completely seal. Life these days means wearing multiple layers all the time, & we're beginning to resemble the Michelin Man. We can't wait for this weather to end!!

Speaking of cafés, now that smoking is banned in all indoor public areas, people who smoke continue to sit outdoors at cafés so they can smoke. They must either be made of strong stuff or they are truly addicted. We watch them to make sure they still move & haven't turned into human popsicles.

Having lived in the SF Bay Area for 30 years, we've become a climate wimp, even having grown up in NYC. Even the shores of Lake Ontario, where Holly went to college & which gets upward of 300 inches of snow each year, is without snow this year. Go figure. Weather is strange all over the world.

For the first time in living memory, Lake Geneva is frozen solid, & the Black Sea (it's salt water) is 2/3 frozen for the first time anyone can document. Rome had the worst snowstorm in more than 20 years & the Pope has opened part of the Vatican for the homeless. The Vistula River in Warsaw is nearly completely frozen, & the homeless & poor all over Europe are dying like flies.

Of course, living in the largest wine-producing region in France -- if not all of Europe -- we worry about the effect this weather will have on the grapes. We haven't heard anything mentioned around here about adverse effects of frost, but time will tell.