C’est un vrai temps de chien en juin!
.... it is real dog's weather in June, another French popular expression to remember: "C’est un vrai temps de chien".
Hard to believe it is June 1. Temperature this morning in Avignon: 11C (52F)! Mistral roars at 75 km/h. Intense clear blue sky - Cezanne like. Tonight they had some snowfall above 900m (3000ft) in the Alpes just north of Nice.
This morning at the Boulangerie: "Oh la, la, le vent souffle comme un fou!", standard expression when the Mistral blows, you hear it at least 20 times a day wherever you go. It's like one of those James Blunt songs - pesters you all day, can't escape it. It means the wind blows like James Blunt, no, sorry, like an idiot.
Is this the result of global warming? The Atlantic Conveyor, a life-giving ocean current that keeps northern Europe warm, is slowing down, scientists maintain. Rising air temperatures cause ice caps to melt, making the water less salty and therefore less dense so it can't sink and flow back south. If the 30 percent slowdown seen over the past 12 years is not just a blip, temperatures in northern Europe could drop by 6 - 7C, despite global warming.
Perhaps we will be making Chablis and Riesling soon in the Provence instead of our good old Grenache based wines.
