They mentioned congère on the radio
this morning! I was still in bed. Congère means snowdrift! Ten days
ago (or so) the television news made a big fuss about the arrival of
spring. Almost the way we would have if we had got one sunny day in
Donegal in the good old days. They interviewed people on various
beaches, children building sandcastles etc. None of these people were
in bikinis; they were all in overcoats and hats! But, nice weather
had arrived, although not unusual for the date. (It reached 22
degrees here in February a few years ago). Now, all of a sudden,
they're talking about snowdrifts on the news headlines. The northern
quarter of France has been hit by winter, and it's serious. 40,000
people without electricity, airports closed, the channel tunnel
closed. And, it's moving southwards, reaching here on Friday. We
expect to survive!
I went on a walk with the walking group
this morning, and the main topic of conversation was also the weather
in Normandy. This was because two of our members, Réné and Jocelyne
had moved there last year. Much to the delight of all present,
Normandy has about two feet of snow. Several of them had rung Réné
to remind him that it was still spring down here! Nobody understands
why they moved up there, even though they are natives of Normandy.
Most of the other members are also “blow-ins”, from places like
Lille and Paris, and they have no intention of going back.
The lunchtime news is featuring
chateaux this week, and they started yesterday by looking at the
hill-top chateau of Beynac, which some of us have visited.
Interestingly, the interior turns out to be quite spectacular, and
probably worth visiting. Usually, the interiors are disappointing.
Even a chateau as spectacular as Chenonceaux (the one that straddles
the river Cher) in the Loire is very tame on the inside. People of
average height have to duck to get through the doorways, as it must
have been built for dwarfs. But, Beynac looks big and spacious.
Yesterday, I arrived back from shopping
and stopped in the lane-way to empty my mailbox of junk mail,
invoices, cheques, marriage proposals etc. I noticed a gaggle of
women outside Mme Rumeau's gate, with Christiane among them. The
latter broke the world record for 20 metres advancing on me in some
haste, apparently to warn me about these women. But, she started by
kissing me on both cheeks, - twice! She then announced in terms of
desperation that they had “escaped” towards my hovel! When I got
there, they had already got Therese out of her migraine-infested bed,
and were regaling her on the doorstep with tales of religion, backed
up by a document which they were presenting to her. I asked them if
they were “perdu” and they replied in the negative, before
leaving. They turned out, predictably enough, to be the local
battalion of Jehovah's witnesses. Therese had no idea who they were,
despite listening carefully to their story, and had never heard of
the “Watchtower” label, which was on the document. It has now
been recycled.
The news at lunchtime announced that
the snow in Normandy etc. is now a “crise”. The 40 minute
bulletin consisted of 35 minutes of snow reporting and five minutes
on the new pope. (There is no new pope yet!). A minister was wheeled
out from a Crisis Committee meeting to be grilled on the crisis. He
was asked predictable questions such as “seeing that the snow was
widely and accurately forecast, how come all the services were taken
by surprise?”. Familiar?? His answer was that everyone is doing his
best to cope with the worst storm in 40 years! But, it is serious.
Thousands of people marooned in vehicles. Miles-long lines of trucks
abandoned on motorways. Many roads and motorways are closed. People
sleeping on trapped buses and trains. It is still snowing, and -10 is
expected tonight. Snowdrifts are up to six feet high. Almost the
entire RER system in Paris is shut down. And, it will continue until
the weekend at least. TF1 tonight had reports from about 20
locations, from intrepid reporters dressed up like Nanook of the
North. Little Jessica Lederman reported from the Gare du Nord,
looking for all the world like a snowman. And, it's heading south!
Have you ever heard of bitter cress?
It's a small weed, with a tiny white flower, not easy to see.
Normally, it's not a problem, as it's too small to compete with
flowers, shrubs or vegetables. But, thousands of bitter cress plants
is a different matter. And, that's what I have now in the garden.
There is an epidemic of bitter cress. It's not confined to my garden.
It's the same on roadsides, public spaces etc. Some conditions have
come together to allow every bitter cress seed in France to germinate
at approximately the same time. The real problem is to eliminate them
before they manage to seed again. The bitter cress system of
dispersing its seeds is possibly the best in the plant world. The
tiny white flowers fade and become small green tubes, facing upwards.
These eventually turn black. That's when they're ready to go. If you
touch the black tubes, seeds fly up and hit you on the face! So, one
plant can scatter hundreds of seeds over a wide area, ensuring
several more crops! But, eliminating them is easier said than done.
Many of them are too small to see. Once the flowers go, they're
almost all impossible to see. If you know what to do, please don't
keep it to yourself.
I enclose a photo of my little
nectarine tree, one of the few bright sparks in the garden just now.
