You know it's high summer when the
French start to talk about the “canicule”. The current one is not
forecast to be as bad as the one in 2003 which killed hundreds of old
people, living alone. But, it's hot! And, it's forecast to exceed 40
in places in the next few days. It makes the news headlines all the
time, which is what would happen in Ireland if we ever got a
heatwave. The warnings about how to survive probably have a basis in
the 2003 experience, but they include advice to check on people
living alone. They also include “orage” warnings, although I'm
not sure what you can do about it in advance, even if you know a
thunderstorm is coming. Some this summer have brought hailstones
literally the size of your fist, which have wrecked cars,
conservatories, caravans and even the roofs of houses.
I went cycling yesterday with five
others, instead of the usual two. The two extras are Yves and
Jean-Michel, both members of my walking group, and both retirees from
the north of France. I understand a lot of what Jean-Michel says
(which is a surprise to me), but he usually speaks slowly and
distinctly. Maybe it comes from his background as a gendarme in
Paris, where he often had to say things like : “I am arresting you
under rule 1024, sub-section 178 of the Napeolonic code, for using
excessive violence against the referee”. “If you say anything, I
will write it down and use it against you in due course”! Yves is
more fun, but I understand much less of what he says. Tant pis.
Towards the end of the two-and-a-half-hour “parcours”, I got a
puncture, despite having a new tyre, fitted only the previous night.
This was a major incident, with all four joining in on the repair.
Rene said that this was appropriate for a “vedette” like myself!!
Another sign of high summer is the
flowering of the sunflowers. Jean-Claude has many hectares of these,
but he seems to have planted them at the wrong time, as they were
drowned by the heavy rain in May. Now, they're too dry and a month
behind schedule. So, the start of the cycle is delayed so that he can
organise the big watering “cannon”.
There is also a big display starting
from the Albizia trees, with their pink blossoms. They're very common
in bigger gardens here. Unfortunately mine is too small to host one.
There is a smaller version, with chocolate leaves, but I have never
seen a fully grown one. I suspect that it's still too big for my
plot. The photograph is taken in the village of Creysse.
The third big sight here is late summer
is the profusion of Langerstroemia trees. They have only just started
to open, but there are long lines of them on some of the approaches
to Bergerac, and, in full bloom, they are very impressive. I'll
include a photograph at a later date. They're much smaller trees than
the Albizias, and I have two of them, in different shades of pink!
The French soccer disaster is still
news here, with the new manager, Laurent Blanc giving his first press
conference yesterday. The cyclists and walkers blame Ireland for the
debacle! If Ireland had put out France, (and they had the
opportunity), they argue, much embarrassment would have been avoided!
The other big story is Madame Liliane
Bettencourt (no relation to the ex-hostage), and her money. She is
the richest woman in France, founder of the L'Oreal beauty empire,
and the fourth richest in the world. She was recently found to have
invested much of her ill-gotten gains in various overseas tax havens
(or “paradises” as the French call them), and, even in France,
that's illegal. However, the real fun is that her chief investment
adviser just happens to be married to Eric Woerth, a minister in the
Sarkozy government, and the man in charge of financial rectitude! A
new revelation appears almost every day. The latest is an allegation
that as much as 150,000 may have been paid into the Sarkozy election
fund from the Bettencourt fortune. The legal limit for an individual
is rather low, at 150 euro! Nobody has yet resigned on this one. But,
two ministers resigned a few days ago for other financial
irregularities. One had spent 12,000 of the people's money on Cuban
cigars. The other had spent 130,000 on a chartered flight, so he
could visit the Haiti earthquake. Not a mention of Charvet shirts.
Some good news: My neighbours'
15-year-old daughter recently won the French judo championship in her
class. Her sister got her Bac results on Tuesday, but I can't yet
confirm how good her results were! But, her mother wasn't impressed
by her level of application.
The vineyards are also starting to look
summery, with little green grapes becoming visible among the leaves,
and those funny-looking tall thin tractors driving around with
sprayers attached, seeking something to devour.
The downside of hot, dry weather, is
the need to water the garden. For reasons which I don't understand,
the previous owner of this house connected hot water to the outside
tap nearest the garden! So, before starting to water, I have to
remember to turn off the water heating first. Otherwise, we suffer
from scalded plants! Then, I have to remember to turn the heat on
again, or the next person to have a shower will complain about how
long it's taking for the shower to get warm!
Watch this space, - and keep in touch!
